“The federal authorities recognize our authority in dealing with the local workforce,” she told Variety.
On Friday, hundreds of guest workers gathered at Labor to process their documents.
Kaipat said these guest workers were given a “report back” paper to complete their deficiency in getting the records of their status.
The guest workers, she said, have various concerns that Labor needs to address.
Some have only a temporary permit before Nov. 28, 2009 when the federal government took over local immigration.
“Their applications are in various stages,” Kaipat said.
Rabby Syed, United Workers Movement president, wants to know if Labor has the legal authority to attend to overstayers who were given the “report back” paper.
These nonresidents are now under the jurisdiction of the federal government, Syed said.
“I hope the feds will look into this issue,” he added.
Some overstaying guest workers who were asked to report back on Jan. 15 sought assistance from the federal labor ombudsman’s office last week after their temporary permits were revoked.
Kaipat said they instructed guest workers to report back so Labor could address their individual concerns.
“But if you are an overstayer and do not have right to be here then you shouldn’t be here,” she added.
Ronnie Doca, the United Workers Movement chairman, said Labor once again failed to adopt a systematic way of dealing with hundreds of people.
“There were confusion and shouting,” he said on Friday.
Doca showed to Variety a transition conditional permit from at least two guest workers who sought his assistance.
The documents bore an issuance date of Jan. 14 and a report back date of Jan. 15.
“This is very confusing. Some were asked to come back on Jan 27,” Doca said
Kaipat said Labor adopted a system for the smooth processing of documents.
She added that they cannot prevent challenges whenever they deal with hundreds of people.
But, she said, “everything is under control.”
According to Kaipat, Labor will continue to process individual concerns that were not addressed last week because of time constraint.
