Alleged overstayer found working as taxi driver

Federal agents arrested last Friday an alleged overstaying Chinese tourist who was found working as an illegal taxi driver on Saipan.

Xiaomei Wu was brought before U.S. District Court for the NMI Magistrate Judge Heather L. Kennedy Monday afternoon for his initial appearance hearing.

Robert T. Torres appeared as court-appointed counsel for Wu. Assistant U.S. attorney Eric O’Malley, counsel for the U.S. government, filed a motion to detain Wu pending trial.

The detention hearing was held yesterday.

According to Nicole Sively, special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, Federal Protective Services officer Sean White encountered Wu for an alleged traffic violation last Thursday.

Wu was allegedly in the driver’s seat of a Toyota sedan at the Marina Heights Business Plaza.

In her affidavit in support of a complaint, Sively said that Wu presented his CNMI driver’s license to White and stated he was an illegal taxi driver.

White then contacted HSI for assistance and requested that a check be conducted on Wu for possible outstanding warrants.

During the records checks, HSI discovered that Wu is a citizen of the People’s Republic of China who had overstayed his CNMI-only conditional parole, Sively said.

Records showed that Wu entered the CNMI on March 3, 2017, and was granted a CNMI-only conditional parole by U.S. Customs and Border Protection that was to last until March 11, 2017.

Sively said that Wu overstayed his authorized parole date and is therefore subject to being deported.

Since Wu had no legal immigration status, HSI personnel contacted the CNMI Bureau of Motor Vehicles personnel about the driver’s license that Wu had, Sively said.

HSI personnel reviewed the records that Wu presented at BMV and found that a U.S. immigration form I-797A indicating he is a CW1 worker is fraudulent. The alien number listed on the I-797A form was a valid alien number but was not assigned to Wu. Records also showed that Wu’s name and date of birth revealed no immigration petitions for him, including CW-1.

During her questioning, Sively said, Wu stated he was working in Garapan and that one of the workers introduced him to someone who could assist him in obtaining a driver’s license.

Wu claimed that the person he later identified as “Uncle Zhang” took him to BMV and assisted him as an English translator.

Wu claimed he took written test in English and took the driving test a few times before passing.

The defendant said it was Uncle Zhang who filled out his driver’s license application.

Wu said he only provided Uncle Zhang with his passport and Chinese driver’s license.

Wu said he did not give Uncle Zhang cash for his help, but instead bought him dinner and about $400-$500 worth of groceries.