By Haidee V. Eugenio
Variety Assistant Editor

SOME 200 names have been taken off the Department of Labor’s list of 1,001 individuals it says are “overstaying” in the CNMI as of yesterday afternoon, according to Rose Ada-Hocog, administrator of Labor’s Administrative Hearing Office.
Since Labor’s publication of the list on Wednesday, nonresident workers with valid entry permits, who have pending labor cases and who have other proofs of legal employment in the CNMI have been lining up at the department’s Enforcement Section to have their names deleted from the “no hire” list.
“About 200 names have been deleted from the list as of Thursday,” Ada-Hocog said.
More names are expected to be deleted.
Nonresidents whose names may have been inadvertently included on the list have until Feb. 5, Monday, to report to Labor.
“We will issue another notice with a cleared listing of names,” she said.
Former Senate legal counsel Stephen C. Woodruff, now a private attorney, earlier warned that the government’s “no hire” list may have violated privacy, due process of law and other rights guaranteed by federal and CNMI law.
Press Secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. yesterday said “the notice clearly invited corrections and corrections are being made,” when asked whether the Fitial administration will issue an apology for the erroneous “no hire” list.
Woodruff said his office has received more than a dozen inquiries from nonresidents whose names were wrongfully included on the “no hire” list.
“We’re still in a fact-finding phase…There’s been no decision yet (whether a lawsuit will be filed against the government),” said Woodruff, adding that they expect more inquiries in the next few days.
Labor, in the public notice, said no employer in the CNMI may hire or employ any of the persons on the list for any purpose or position, including household or domestic positions.
More than a dozen workers interviewed on Wednesday and yesterday showed their valid entry permits and other proofs of legal employment but whose names were included on the “no hire” list.
Labor said it did not issue the list just because the U.S. Congress is considering the federalization of the CNMI’s labor and immigration policies, but as part of the department’s reform efforts.
But Woodruff said “there appears to be no statutory or regulatory authority for the publication of this list. Neither is there any information on how and from what sources the list was complied, or any indication of the reliability of the information.”