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No bond for asylum seekers
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Posted on Sep 11 2000
U.S. District Judge Alex R. Munson has denied a motion filed by the CNMI government to require four asylum seekers to post a bond in order to evade detention for overstaying on the islands.
In his ruling, he said the plaintiffs Rui Liang and Lia Da Nian, Mohammed Kamal Hossain and Jane Roe I do not have the resources to post such a bond.
But the judge placed under advisement the government’s motion to dismiss appeal for summary judgment on the case pending in the federal court.
The case brought by their lawyer Bruce L. Jorgensen has sought a federal ruling to allow them to seek political asylum in the CNMI.
In another ruling issued in the same case, Judge Munson upheld its earlier decision to summon a federal immigration officer who allegedly interrogated the two Chinese nationals while under detention in violation of the court’s order.
Robert Stamerra, asylum officer of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, as well as CNMI Labor and Immigration Sec. Mark Zachares and Assistant Attorney General Robert Goldberg are scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 21 to show cause why they should not be held in contempt for violation of the Sept. 7, 1999 order.
In throwing out the U.S. government’s motion against the hearing, Judge Munson said there are factual issues involving Mr. Stamerra which need to be addressed in court.
Both the U.S. and CNMI governments have been named defendants to the civil case, along with 25 other individuals. The plaintiffs have sought a court order so that their asylum applications will be processed.
The defendants have claimed in court papers that they have no authority to accept the asylum petition because the CNMI has its own immigration laws that do not cover such procedures.
