THE six Chinese students whose passports were confiscated by the Department of Labor and Immigration have a “strong case” against the authorities because they were deprived of their right to international travel, according to Bruce Jorgensen.
Jorgensen, a human rights lawyer, criticized the local immigration officials for their action.
“They never learn. Suppose one of the students got sick and has to be flown back. How can she travel without a passport?” he said.
Jorgensen said it is unlawful to take away a passport without due process or hearing, something that the students are claiming they were deprived of when their passports were confiscated in Aug. 2001.
But Immigration Director Antonio P. Sablan, in a separate interview, insisted that they have the authority to “retain” travel documents of visitors if there is a “reasonable concern” about their intended purpose of stay in the CNMI.
In the case of the six Chinese students, Sablan said Eucon’s status as a tertiary institution remains questionable because of the State Board of Regents’ decision to revoke its provisional license to operate.
“We have the authority to retain any document until such time that we make a legal determination on their immigration status,” Sablan said.
He added that even the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service practices the retention of travel documents if the circumstances call for it.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled in favor of a foreigner whose passport was confiscated in 1988 in the case of Yolanda U. De Nieva vs. Charles Reyes, according to Jorgensen.
Superior Court Associate Judge David Wiseman, who was then a trial lawyer, represented De Nieva.
Reyes, then chief of immigration and naturalization office of the CNMI, ordered the confiscation of De Nieva’s passport based on information that she might be involved in an international operation to import workers and on suspicion that her papers were falsified.
The trial court said there was probable cause. However, it was found out that De Nieva was not given due process when her passport was taken. Subsequently, the jury awarded De Nieva $50,000. An appeal followed.
On July 24, 1992, Circuit Judges Arthur L. Alarcon, Dorothy W. Nelson and William C. Canby Jr. ruled that neither the CNMI nor its officers could be sued in their official capacities.
However, they said Reyes “was a person for the purposes of a suit against him in his individual capacity” and that it was clearly established that De Nieva’s right to international travel was denied. Reyes was ordered to pay De Nieva.
But Sablan said De Nieva’s situation may be different from the case of the six Chinese students.
“I don’t know the details of the De Nieva case, but the case of the six Chinese students may be different,” Sablan said.
In a separate interview, Eucon International School President Christian Wei said they had not heard from immigration authorities.
According to Wei, the students are optimistic that the CNMI government would eventually help them.
The students are currently residing at Eucon’s dormitory.
