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17-year alien worker faces deportation
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Posted on May 17 2009
An alien worker who has been in the CNMI for 17 straight years without going home and is now facing a deportation case says he will seek asylum if he is forced to depart.
Aquilino C. Castillo, a 56-year-old Filipino carpenter, was arrested early this week after the Division of Immigration filed a deportation case against him for allegedly overstaying in the CNMI for over two years now.
Castillo was brought to the Superior Court Friday for a bail hearing. Associate Judge David A. Wiseman imposed a $1,000 cash bail for his temporary release.
Immigration investigator John Peter stated in his declaration that Castillo’s worker’s entry permit expired on May 12, 2006.
But Castillo, in a letter to Wiseman, said he believes he is a victim because his last employer, Ramon Manahane, kept promising him that his permit papers had been processed.
Castillo appealed to Wiseman to consider his situation for humanitarian reasons.
He said he never had a vacation for 17 years and that the CNMI has become his second home.
“The most valuable time of my life I spent here. I spent all my money here as well. I got nobody in the Philippines. I lost everybody,” Castillo said.
The carpenter asked the judge to allow him to stay and work in the CNMI until the federalization law takes effect.
He said under the federalization law, long-term workers like him are subject to protection and not deportation.
Castillo said if forced to depart, he will consider filing for asylum protection with the Attorney General’s Office.
