Alien workers don\u2019t have to worry about accruing \u201cbad time\u201d if they stay in the CNMI even after they lose status following the Nov. 27, 2011, deadline because \u201cmere overstaying does not affect the availability of certain immigration reliefs,\u201d according to U.S. Pinoys for Good Governance legal counsel Ted Laguatan.<\/p>\n
In an email to the Saipan Tribune, the immigration lawyer said that under the immigration laws of the United States, accumulating so-called \u201cbad time\u201d will not affect an alien\u2019s chances of obtaining an immigrant status in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor example, the eligibility of an overstaying person to adjust status\u2014if married to a U.S. citizen or has a U.S. citizen son or daughter over 21 who can file an immigrant visa petition for him or her\u2014is not affected,\u201d said Laguatan.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s more, the longer an alien stays in the U.S. is even a plus for him or her in getting status, said the California-based lawyer.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the Cancellation of Removal Law, sometimes known as the \u201810-year relief law,\u2019 if an alien has stayed 10 years or more and has U.S. citizen or permanent resident children or parents, staying longer than 10 years even becomes a plus. This relief is filed with the Immigration Court and the applicant must prove extreme hardship for his qualifying relatives if he is forced to leave the U.S. in order to qualify,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
There is one caveat, however: Only family-based petitions are not affected by an alien accruing \u201cbad time,\u201d Laguatan said. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor certain petitions, however, such as employment-based petitions for one\u2014which were filed after April 30, 2011\u2014overstaying prevents the applicant from adjusting status in the U.S.,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Laguatan, who is expected to visit the CNMI later this month, is a member of the California State Bar and was honored by the same organization in 2010 as one of only 29 U.S. lawyers officially certified continuously for more than 20 years as expert-specialists in immigration law. He is the author of A Layman\u2019s Guidebook on Immigration Law.<\/p>\n
[B]Fears allayed[\/B]<\/p>\n
Alien workers in the CNMI welcomed Laguatan\u2019s comments during an on-air interview over KWAW Magic 100.3 FM last Saturday.<\/p>\n
In that interview, he said jobless alien workers should not depart the Commonwealth because numerous legal relief are available for them.<\/p>\n
United Workers Movement CNMI president Rabby Syed said that Laguatan\u2019s advice was music to the ears of alien workers, especially those fearing the worst after the Nov. 27, 2011, deadline of umbrella permits.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have to be worried because there\u2019s a lot of options given by the U.S. Constitution and laws. Each alien worker should be prepared to take care of their own cases. They should also be prepared because there will be attorney\u2019s fees. They need to go though some process and they need to be prepared,\u201d said Syed.<\/p>\n
During the same interview, Laguatan said that key to successfully helping hundreds\u2014if not thousands\u2014of foreign workers in the CNMI is to set up a semi pro bono law office that he willing to head.<\/p>\n
Human rights advocate and former Rota school teacher Wendy Doromal, for her part, lauded Laguatan\u2019s support of alien workers and welcomed him to the crusade in fighting for the sector\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would listen to the experienced and respected immigration attorneys rather than listen to politicians who are pushing their own self-serving agendas in order to preserve their power and ensure that the foreign workers remain an oppressed underclass who are denied of basic civil and human rights in the CNMI\u2019s two-tiered society.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is great news that two renowned immigration attorneys are taking a stand to support the constitutional rights of the CNMI\u2019s foreign workers. In the upcoming weeks, expect to see more labor, immigration, and human rights groups stepping into the spotlight to show solidarity with the CNMI legal, long-term foreign workers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Last week, former general attorney for Immigration and Naturalization Services Loida Nicolas Lewis told worried foreign workers not to fear deportation without having their cases heard first by immigration court.<\/p>\n
Doromal added that there is presently a grave humanitarian crisis in the CNMI that must not be ignored. <\/p>\n
\u201cAfter months of delays and agonizing uncertainty, the CNMI\u2019s foreign workers are now on the doorstep of tomorrow, as November 27th is just a step away. If the United States of America is truly the defender of human rights, then now is the time to act. We must fight to amend laws to protect the basic human and civil rights of legal, long-term foreign workers. We must continue to fight for the introduction of legislation that will grant status to all legal, long-term foreign workers of the CNMI,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Alien workers don\u2019t have to worry about accruing \u201cbad time\u201d if they stay in the CNMI even after they lose status following the Nov. 27, 2011, deadline because \u201cmere overstaying does not affect the availability of certain immigration reliefs,\u201d according to U.S. Pinoys for Good Governance legal counsel Ted Laguatan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-156291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156291\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}