‘Overstaying does not affect availability of certain reliefs’

Alien workers don’t have to worry about accruing “bad time” if they stay in the CNMI even after they lose status following the Nov. 27, 2011, deadline because “mere overstaying does not affect the availability of certain immigration reliefs,” according to U.S. Pinoys for Good Governance legal counsel Ted Laguatan.

In an email to the Saipan Tribune, the immigration lawyer said that under the immigration laws of the United States, accumulating so-called “bad time” will not affect an alien’s chances of obtaining an immigrant status in the future.

“For example, the eligibility of an overstaying person to adjust status-if 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-is not affected,” said Laguatan.

What’s 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.

“For the Cancellation of Removal Law, sometimes known as the ’10-year relief law,’ 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,” he said.

There is one caveat, however: Only family-based petitions are not affected by an alien accruing “bad time,” Laguatan said.

“For certain petitions, however, such as employment-based petitions for one-which were filed after April 30, 2011-overstaying prevents the applicant from adjusting status in the U.S.,” he said.

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’s Guidebook on Immigration Law.

Fears allayed

Alien workers in the CNMI welcomed Laguatan’s comments during an on-air interview over KWAW Magic 100.3 FM last Saturday.

In that interview, he said jobless alien workers should not depart the Commonwealth because numerous legal relief are available for them.

United Workers Movement CNMI president Rabby Syed said that Laguatan’s advice was music to the ears of alien workers, especially those fearing the worst after the Nov. 27, 2011, deadline of umbrella permits.

“We don’t have to be worried because there’s 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’s fees. They need to go though some process and they need to be prepared,” said Syed.

During the same interview, Laguatan said that key to successfully helping hundreds-if not thousands-of foreign workers in the CNMI is to set up a semi pro bono law office that he willing to head.

Human rights advocate and former Rota school teacher Wendy Doromal, for her part, lauded Laguatan’s support of alien workers and welcomed him to the crusade in fighting for the sector’s rights.

“I 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’s two-tiered society.

“It is great news that two renowned immigration attorneys are taking a stand to support the constitutional rights of the CNMI’s 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,” she said.

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.

Doromal added that there is presently a grave humanitarian crisis in the CNMI that must not be ignored.

“After months of delays and agonizing uncertainty, the CNMI’s 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,” she said.