Immigration detainee begs ICE to move him to hospital

Elpidio A. Macaraeg, a 60-year-old Filipino maintenance worker who has been on Saipan for 26 years and has been in detention for two months while facing removal proceedings, is pleading with federal authorities to confine him instead at the hospital as his arthritis has worsened due to a very cold condition inside his detention cell.

As this developed, the Philippine Consulate General stated that the Philippine government can only disburse funds from the Legal Assistance Fund for criminal and labor disputes and not for immigration cases such as Macaraeg’s.

Rene Reyes, founding president of the Marianas Advocates for Humanitarian Affairs Ltd. or MAHAL, told Saipan Tribune that he visited Macaraeg yesterday and the man could hardly walk out of his detention cell at the Department of Corrections.

Reyes said that Macaraeg’s arthritis has worsened because it is very cold inside his detention cell.

Reyes said that Macaraeg is begging for humanitarian consideration from Immigration and Customs Enforcement to place him under “hospital arrest” due to his old age and health condition.

Macaraeg is a MAHAL member. He was in a wheelchair when Reyes visited him at DOC last month. His legs have become swollen due to arthritis.

Last Thursday, the Immigration Court set the hearing for Macaraeg’s removal case for Dec. 9 at 1pm. Attorney Janet King substituted for Macaraeg’s counsel, Mun Su Park, who was off-island at the time.

Reyes told Saipan Tribune yesterday that he inquired with the Philippine Consulate General if the Philippine government can provide funding for Macaraeg’s legal defense.

Reyes said that Philippine Consul General Medardo G. Macaraig wrote him on Nov. 30, stating that funding can only be made available for criminal and labor cases. Macaraig said that Macaraeg’s case is clearly an immigration issue, so it would be difficult to obtain funding from the Legal Assistance Fund.

Nevertheless, Macaraig said he still sent Reyes’ request to the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs for consideration.

“The DFA confirmed to the Philippine Consulate General that disbursement of funds from the Legal Assistance Fund can only be made for criminal and labor disputes in accordance with Republic Act 10022 that amended Republic Act 8042, known as the “Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995” and other subsequent rules and regulations implementing this law,” Macaraig said.

ICE agents arrested Macaraeg last October when he did not appear at his immigration hearing due to confusion about his hearing date as it was handwritten.

The Filipino worker was supposed to be deported on Nov. 7, but Park filed an emergency motion to reopen proceedings and rescind the order of removal entered on Oct. 4, 2011.

“The court’s written notice sets out a wrong date to the detriment of respondent, whose only fault is to rely and believe that the court’s written notice is correct,” Park said.

Among the grounds cited for removal was that Macaraeg is jobless and has no umbrella permit.

But Reyes said that Macaraeg, who has been involved in many projects on the island and has no criminal background, is among the 628 aliens who were granted conditional umbrella permits.