Kaipat Criticizes AG on Overstayers' Umbrella Permits

November 29, 2009

There has been constant confusion regarding overstayers since the concept of umbrella permits was introduced. On October 16, 2009 The Saipan Tribune reported:

Overstayers, labor officials said, must clear their status with the immigration division first before the labor department can take any action with respect to them.

Over two weeks ago labor advocates Rabby Syed and Boni Sagana asked DOL to explain the criteria for overstayers to obtain umbrella permits.

Confusion as to the criteria for overstayers to receive a permit remained until November 18, 2009 when Attorney General Ed Buckingham issued a Delegation of Authority regarding umbrella permits, including umbrella permits for overstayers. Under that document, the Director of Immigration was authorized to issue permits to overstayers on a case-by-case-humanitarian reasons including duration of residency in the CNMI, existence of U.S. citizen dependents, and duration of out of status period.

Guest worker groups and the federal ombudsman were assisting overstayers with getting their umbrella permits processed.

It was reported on November 26, 2009 that the Attorney General granted conditional umbrella permits to 628 aliens.

Today it was reported that AG Buckingham and DOL Deputy Secretary of Labor Cinta Kaipat have issued a "joint statement" that would clarify the situation with respect to overstayers. I do not have a copy of that statement, but I will publish here when I get a copy.

Kaipat was quoted in both papers criticizing the Attorney General and ranting about his decision to "protect illegal overstayers."

From the Saipan Tribune:

In a press release prior to the joint statement, Kaipat said Buckingham's decision to give broad protection to illegal overstayers was a complete surprise to Labor.

“The AG never discussed this plan with us and, so far as we know, he never discussed it with anyone on his interagency working group-not the Chamber of Commerce, the representatives of foreign workers, the Department of Commerce, Customs, or anyone else,” Kaipat said.

She said the AG formerly had legitimate interests in prosecuting illegal aliens, but as of Nov. 28, 2009, Saturday, those duties were to be taken over by the federal agency Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“The AG certainly could use these applications from overstayers for law enforcement purposes. And all these records could be turned over to the federal law enforcement authorities so that illegal aliens could be deported,” Kaipat said.

She pointed out that there should be no general grant of permits to illegal aliens.

“We do not know what the Attorney General plans to do, but Labor will not grant any permission to work to any person that Labor has not approved for an umbrella permit,” she said.

Kaipat said only Labor has the legislative authority to allow aliens to work in the Commonwealth.

Kaipat said that, by making an informal agreement with the Division of Immigration, which is not in writing, Labor has not delegated any of its authority to the AG.

Labor is simply cooperating with another Commonwealth agency, she added.

“We will no longer be certifying overstayers to the Attorney General,” Kaipat said.

Buckingham on Thursday issued a public notice granting conditional “umbrella permits” to 628 aliens who have been classified as overstayers.

Labor started issuing “umbrella permits” on Oct. 26. Last Friday was the supposed to be the last day of issuing the permits. As of Friday at 8:30pm, Labor stopped entertaining less than 10 alien workers, mostly Chinese, who requested for “umbrella permits.”

Kaipat claims that “only Labor has the legislative authority to allow aliens to work in the Commonwealth." Does the CNMI DOL still have authority over the alien labor issues, or is it authorized only to enforce wage hour and contract law?
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It was also reported that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will be looking at nonresident's needs to travel on a case-by-case basis until the DHS decides whether to issue emergency regulations to allow foreign workers to travel in and out of the CNMI or to issue a new set of rules for the transitional worker program.

UPDATE:

Here is the press release. It was said to have been penned at the urging of the governor. Since these two officials (or one newly merged official as the contact information indicates), agree that the AG will do no further processing of the permits, it appears that the permits previously issued as conditional are now permanent.

JOINT PRESS RELEASE FROM THE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

November 27, 2009 Contact Person: Edward Buckingham and Cinta Kaipat

The Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Labor would like to clarify the situation with respect to the overstayers in the Commonwealth. The umbrella permit program implemented by the Department of Labor was never meant to be -- and is not -- an amnesty program.

Overstayers were given the opportunity to come back legitimately in the Department of Labor’s guest worker program. Their names were published in the newspapers on more than one occasion and they failed to rectify their status. They are excludable aliens on many counts. They do not meet the statutory requirements to be legitimately put back on the system. As a result, they remain excludable today and the Department of Labor and the Office of the Attorney General agree that no further processing of applications from this group of overstayers is appropriate.

The federal immigration will be taking over the local immigration system as required by Public law 110-229 effective 12:00am, November 28, 2009 and the list of overstayers will be forwarded to them. No further review will be conducted by the Office of the Attorney General.

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CNMI DPS in need of policing?

November 29, 2009

It looks like the CNMI Department of Public Safety may need some serious policing itself. For the last few months there have been reports of arrests of police officers and also exposure of questionable practices.

There was the infamous case of the governor's bodyguard-driver who was arrested for dealing meth from the governor's car. The man was deputized by the police department, had a questionable drug test results, had a record of violent behavior and still was allowed to carry a gun and drive around the island endangering lives. (See these posts: Governor Fitial's Former Driver Signs Plea Agreement: CNMI officials knew of his drug use, Governor Has A Fit about Driver's Arrest, Driver/Body Guard sold Meth From Governor's Car, and Governor's Driver Packing Heat?)

Earlier this month an FBI investigation led to the arrest of Detective Christopher Leon Guerrero who allegedly extorted large sums of money from an illegal Chinese taxi driver. The indictment states that he was "using his position as a police officer to obtain money from the driver of an illegal taxicab, in exchange for dismissing the driver's criminal case, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 195."

The criminal complaint quotes the statement of veteran FBI agent Haejun Park:

3. In this investigation, I have been working with several sources. The main source in the investigation has proved to be reliable for the FBI and in his cooperation with the FBI, the source has provided reliable information for the past five months regarding a Saipan Department of Public Safety police detective extorting money from unlicensed taxi operators. The payments solicited by the detective have ranged from $300.00 to $700.00 per instance.

4. In July 2009, the source came forward to the FBI and advised that he had been previously arrested by CNMI Detective Christopher Leon Guerrero for operating an unlicensed taxi in the CNMI. Source was imprisoned for one night for the offense. Upon release from prison the following day, the source met with Leon Guerrero to inquire about getting the source's vehicle returned. Leon Guerrero informed the source that something could be worked out.

5. On the evening of the next day, the source received a telephone call from Leon Guerrero and Leon Guerrero instructed the source to meet Leon Guerrero at the Price Costco parking lot immediately. Source met with Guerrero and a $500.00 payment from the source was discussed. The payment was for the source to get his vehicle returned.

6. The next day, the source met with Leon Guerrero and paid Leon Guerrero $500.00 in cash. The source made the payment to Leon Guerrero inside the police station and the vehicle was released to the source after the transaction was complete.

7. In another instance in September 2009, the source introduced an acquaintance to the FBI who had also been recently arrested for operating an unlicensed taxi. Leon Guerrero was then contacted by the source to obtain information on how the source's acquaintance's vehicle could be returned. Leon Guerrero later advised that if $300.00 was paid to Leon Guerrero, the vehicle would be released. On October 4, 2009, the source, acting on behalf of the acquaintance, met with Leon Guerrero and paid Leon Guerrero $300.00 to release the vehicle.

8. For the next several days after the payment was made, the source had several telephone conversations with Leon Guerrero. They discussed the possible dismissal of the investigation against the source's acquaintance. Leon Guerrero demanded $500.00 from the source to have the case dismissed. On 10/9/2009, the source met with Leon Guerrero and paid $200.00 of the $500.00 payment that was demanded. On 10/16/2009, the source met with Leon Guerrero and paid the remaining $300.00 to Leon Guerrero. Several of these discussion were recorded by the FBI.

9. Recently, a separate witness was interviewed by the FBI regarding a separate matter and the witness voluntarily admitted to working with Leon Guerrero in extorting money from Chinese unlicensed taxi drivers in the CNMI. On over eight occasions, Leon Guerrero would contact the witness who spoke Chinese and instruct the witness to contact the unlicensed taxi drivers. Guerrero provided the telephone numbers of the drivers to the witness. At the direction of Leon Guerrero, the witness would advise the Chinese drivers that if they wanted to get their vehicle returned, they would have to pay him (the witness) money for the release of the car. The payments demanded by Leon Guerrero and the witness ranged from $300.00 to $700.00. Once the individual made the payment to the witness, the money was split with Guerrero and the vehicle was released back to the driver.

The criminal complaint suggests that there may even be other charges filed against Leon Guerrero for ripping off other taxi drivers.

Sgt. Joseph Agulto was also arrested in November 2009. He was charged with beating up his girlfriend. The policeman acted like a common thug according to newspaper accounts. From the Saipan Tribune:

Detective Andrea Ozawa stated in her report that Agulto beat up his girlfriend at Pakpak Beach in San Antonio and at the USSP Club in Garapan.

Ozawa said police officers responded to USSP Club on Friday shortly after receiving a call at 1:48 am about a disturbance at the club.

Ozawa said that when a police officer arrived at the club, the victim was seen trying to hide behind the bar counter and was crying.

Further investigation showed that on Thursday night Agulto picked up the victim and brought her to Pakpak Beach where he allegedly tried to stab her with a pair of pliers. She was able to grab the tool and throw it away.

Agulto then allegedly pointed a gun at the victim and threatened to kill her that night but she managed to calm him down.

Agulto and his girlfriend proceeded to a family member's house where they had a few drinks. The group then proceeded to the USSP Club where Agulto allegedly punched her right leg, shouted profanities at her and threatened to smash a can of beer on her face.

When Agulto picked up a can of beer, the victim ran and hid behind the counter. Someone called the police.

Agulto and Leon Guerrero were placed on suspension by Public Safety Commissioner Santiago F. Tudela.

Today's Marianas Variety has a story about underage customers going to clubs and bars to drink and watch live sex shows. Where are the law enforcement officials?

The article focused on a gay bar on Middle Road to "watch men kissing each other." Could that be the bar that was accused of tracfficking young men from the Philippines last year?

From the Variety:

A 22-year-old regular costumer of one of the night clubs in Garapan said some of his friends, 17 to 19 years old, go to the bar every Saturday for drinks and the “live show” of women dancing naked.

“ID is not required to enter,” he said.

Students of Northern Marianas College below the age of 21 said they usually go to a gay bar on Middle Road where they get to watch live shows of men kissing each other.

“For just $50 and a glass of alcohol you can have one naked man sit with you through the night,” one of them said.

ID is not required when buying alcohol or cigarettes at the club, said the student who is a member of a local rock band.

In July 2008 the Marianas Variety did a story on how easy it was for teens to make duplicate driver's licenses that they used to buy cigarettes and alcohol and to enter clubs:

“When I first started making fake licenses, it wasn’t even that hard. I just needed to get the right applications and a real license to copy from. Then I just got a photo of the person I was working with,” said a 17 year-old high school graduate, who refused to be identified.

“Fake licenses are easy to make. I have twelve year-old friends making them. It’s isn’t rocket science,” he said, which is the reason several bars and nightclubs in Hawaii and the U.S. do not accept CNMI driver licenses as valid identification cards.

The Department of Public Safety tried to address this problem by purchasing new driver license machines a couple of years ago, but the machines broke down and have not been operational to date.

Perhaps the local law enforcement officials should check out teens frequenting adult clubs. Then again, didn't the police chief complain that earlier this year that every time the police arrested the prostitutes and illegal taxi drivers they were set free? The Saipan Tribune quoted Tudela:

“For example, during the last time we did a sting operation and we arrested 16 women for prostitution, all of them have since been released. They're back on the street doing the same thing,” Tudela told Saipan Tribune.

In that sting operation, the Department of Public Safety and other enforcement agencies sought the help of visiting U.S. sailors to pose as “customers to solicit” services of suspected prostitutes, Tudela said.

In yesterday's meeting with members of the House Committee on Commerce and Tourism and other agencies in the House chamber, Tudela said the lack of prosecution not only defeats the law but also hurts the morale of police officers who made the arrests on probable cause.

...Tudela and Police Officer Vicente Sablan also told lawmakers that the Department of Public Safety does not receive any update from the Office of the Attorney General on the status of cases prosecuted, if they are at all prosecuted.

“We make arrests, they're put to jail for hours, they post bail and they're free again. Once it's with the Attorney General's Office, we won't know of the status of the case,” Tudela said, adding that the courts also do not provide DPS information on the conditions of release of individuals arrested.

In October 2009 over 20 police officers, firemen and their families held a rally in front of the Administration Building on Capital Hill asking for pay increases and a fair promotion policy. The Saipan Tribune reported that they met briefly with the lt. governor and AG. They also spoke with legislators. The police officers called for an end to austerity policies and salary increases.

The same day as the protest, the Lt. Governor claimed that the CNMI government would be using a $300,000 grant to conduct a desk audit of the DPS and Department of Health to evaluate pay increases and promotions. The administration admitted that there have not been within-grade increases among police officers for as long as five, seven to 10 years.

Maybe there is a link between the low salaries and the failure of the OAG to prosecute cases, and the recent surge of behavior not fitting of law enforcement officials.

Announcement: DHS and USCIS Forum by invitation

November 28, 2009

In an effort to get answers to important questions concerning the Regulations for the CNMI Transitional Worker Program and U.S. Immigration law, the 
United Workers Movement-NMI is sponsoring a forum for leaders from different religious, worker and ethnic groups.

 DHS and USCIS officials will give an overview of immigration law, the immigrant and nonimmigrant categories, and the new transitional rules. They will answer questions and provide information for an orderly transition from the CNMI permit system to the U.S. federal immigration system under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).



This forum will be held at Fiesta Filipino by Juvy Restaurant, Susupe across from the Saipan Grand Hotel on Wednesday December 2, 2009 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

 If you and your group is interested in joining the forum please call 285- 3306, 287-0191 or 285-9255 for more information and to reserve a seat.


Fall Florida Garden

November 28, 2009

Photos by Wendy L. Doromal and Nani J. L. Doromal @2009

Enjoy the peacefulness of our garden while I take a break from the blog to celebrate my granddaughter, Lexi's birthday, November 28th, Federalization Day!

The photos are from our gardens except for the duck and ducklings that live at the private lake in our development. . .