HIV-infected woman fights deportation order

A 40-year old woman is fighting for her right to stay in the CNMI as immigration and health officials insist on having her deported after she tested positive of HIV.

This is the first attempt of the CNMI government to deport a person staying in the CNMI based on the findings that she is HIV positive. Non-resident workers who were earlier found carrying the deadly virus voluntarily left the islands after they were apprehended by the Department of Labor and Immigration.

The Chinese woman, who was only identified as RKJ, first arrived in the Northern Marianas 1995 as a tourist. She returned to Saipan in August 1998 where she was hired as a factory worker and later on a waitress.

On May 8, 1998, RKJ married a US citizen. They now have a child. RKJ was found positive of the dreaded AIDS virus on August 12, 1998 and in December 1998.

Her legal counsel, V. K. Sawhney, has asked the Superior Court to stop the deportation proceedings because she is already an immediate relative of a US citizen and has already applied for a green card, thus, she is no longer subject to the jurisdiction of the court.

Sawhney argued that she cannot be deported for being HIV positive which is considered a disability.

On May 13, 1999, Sawhney filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission claiming that his client is being discriminated because of RKJ’s disability. A similar case was lodged yesterday before the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice in Washington.

However, the Department of Public Health and the Attorney General’s Office maintained that RKJ should be deported immediately on grounds that she is a “threat to the health and safety and welfare of the residents of the CNMI.”

Superior Court Judge Timothy Bellas is set to hear the arguments on the case on Thursday. Bellas earlier ordered the release of RKJ, who was arrested on April 21, 1999.

She was first placed on house arrest but was later on modified to a more lenient order imposing only an evening curfew from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.

The Department of Public Health has launched a public awareness campaign aimed at encouraging the community to support the prevention of HIV and AIDS.

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS is an incurable disease characterized by the weakening of the immune system. HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, can be transmitted through sexual intercourse, blood transfusion, sharing of HIV-infected needles and by drinking breast milk from an infected woman.