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Alien worker directed to leave NMI
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Posted on Dec 26 2005
A nonresident worker who turned out to have used a fake federal labor letter to obtain a work permit from the CNMI Department of Labor has until New Year’s Eve to voluntarily leave the CNMI, or she faces possible deportation.
Labor hearing officer Herbert D. Soll declared that Wu Huamei has no legal basis to remain in the Commonwealth, but gave the worker a grace period to stay on the islands until Dec. 31. Soll said Wu should be referred to the Division of Immigration after that date.
In an administrative order, Soll noted that the department issued Wu a document authorizing her to seek employment after the worker presented a fake letter bearing the letterhead of the U.S. Department of Labor.
The fake letter indicated that Wu had initiated a labor case against her former employer, L & T Corp., when no such complaint was actually filed. Wu entered the CNMI in 2001 and abandoned her employment with L & T sometime n October 2003, even before her last contract expired in July 2004.
The department’s investigation showed that Wu became one of the many clients of Zhou Ying, who provided fake federal labor documents to many workers to allow the latter to obtain work permits. Zhou has been convicted of criminal charges in connection with those fraudulent services and has been deported from the CNMI.
“The enabling [CNMI Labor] memorandum was taken advantage of by Wu and she is employed under a temporary work authorization at the time of the preparation of this order,” Soll said.
“The false letter, purportedly from the U.S. Department of Labor, was void in its inception and it did not bestow any rights or privileges on Wu. Any grants that followed her presentation of the letter are void,” declared Soll.
Soll said Wu has no legal basis to remain in the CNMI even though she alleged that she does not have any personal knowledge that the federal labor document was fake. Wu had said that she simply approached Zhou for help regarding her employment problem.
“Whether Wu Huamei was a conspirator in the scheme or she was unaware of the methods used by her agent and merely followed Zhou’s lead, the law does not support her presence in the Commonwealth,” Soll said.
