Worker given until Christmas to leave NMI or face deportation

A nonresident worker who became one of the many workers that were discovered to have used fake federal labor letters to procure temporary work authorizations from the CNMI Labor Department has to leave the CNMI on or before Christmas, or she will be facing deportation proceedings.

In a Nov. 16 administrative order, Labor hearing officer Herbert D. Soll gave Dai Yunlan the grace period to voluntarily leave the CNMI before being referred to the Immigration Division for possible deportation proceedings.

“Dai Yunlan has no basis to be in the CNMI. After a grace period expiring on Dec. 25, 2005, she should be referred to the Division of Immigration for appropriate action,” Soll said.

Soll declared any document—including Labor memorandum, permit, and TWAs—justifying Dai’s presence in the CNMI since she obtained the fake federal labor document as void.

It appeared that Dai was one of the many nonresident workers who were discovered by the Labor Division to have submitted to the CNMI Labor Department letters using the letterhead of the U.S Department of Labor, which indicated that the concerned workers had filed federal labor complaints.

Investigation by the division revealed, though, that the workers involved, including Dai, did not actually file labor complaints with the federal agency and that the federal government did not actually issue those letters.

The involved workers used those fake letters to obtain TWAs from the CNMI agency, taking advantage of the agreement between the CNMI and federal governments, which allow complainants in federal labor cases continuing presence in the Commonwealth.

In the case of Dai, Soll noted that the worker presented to the CNMI Labor Department a fake letter, which became the basis of the CNMI agency’s decision to allow her to seek temporary work on the islands. Dai made the submission after leaving her employer, Jin Apparel, sometime in 2003.

“The enabling memorandum was taken advantage of by Dai and she has been employed for the greater portion of time since the presentation of the letter,” Soll said.

Soll noted, though, that Dai, who does not speak English, has denied knowing the illegality of her submission. The worker reportedly sought services for a fee from a certain Zhou Ying to fix her immigration status after leaving Jin Apparel, for which she had worked since 2002. Soll said Zhou was earlier convicted on criminal charges and had been deported from the CNMI.

“The request that Dai Yunlan be sanctioned in the form of a permanent disqualification from further employment in the Commonwealth will not be granted because the facts give rise to a presumption that Dai had no criminal intent and merely relied upon Zhou Ying,” Soll declared.

Soll, however, declared Dai’s presence in the CNMI as one without legal justification after she left her employment with Jin Apparel in 2003. (John Ravelo)