Labor Ready to Refer Overstayers to Feds

Labor ready to refer overstayers to feds
Tuesday, 09 March 2010 00:00 By Gemma Q. Casas - Reporter
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THE local Department of Labor will refer to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration, Customs and Enforcement, or ICE, the names of about 300 foreign nationals who have overstayed on the islands.

Department of Labor Deputy Secretary Jacinta M. Kaipat, center, answers questions from the members of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations during a hearing yesterday afternoon. Photo by Gemma Q. CasasDeputy Secretary of Labor Jacinta M. Kaipat told the Senate Standing Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations that ICE is the proper federal agency dealing with the removal of aliens in the CNMI for violating federal immigration law.

DHS took control of the islands’ immigration system on Nov. 28, 2009.

Its U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, deals with the issuance of permits, applications for green cards, the so-called parole for inter-state traveling and advance parole for overseas traveling among foreign nationals legally allowed to stay in the CNMI.

The department’s U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, on the other hand, deals with screening persons entering the CNMI, at the Saipan international airport and other major points of entries via sea and air.

ICE can arrest foreigners violating federal immigration and customs rules.

Kaipat said with the CNMI Division of Immigration now dismantled the deportation of foreigners rests solely with ICE.

Some senators raised concern on the continued presence of overstayers including those with umbrella permits despite not having jobs.

Under the CNMI labor law, Kaipat said the last known employer of the foreign worker has liability to pay for his or her medical expenses and repatriation up to 90 days after their contractual agreement is severed.

“After 90 days they are no longer liable,” said Kaipat and noted that in the legal world, “ignorance of the law is not an excuse.”

In case the last known employer is unable to pay for the repatriation of a foreign worker, bond companies could be tapped to pay for their exit.

Some lawmakers said the number of jobless foreign workers may increase after the federal government announced that umbrella permits entitled these nonresidents to legally stay on the islands until Nov. 27, 2011, even if they lose their jobs.