Filipino woman’s sponsors dispute immigration claims she was working illegally

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — While a lot of questions are being asked about the case of the Filipino woman who in 2018 was ordered by the Immigration Board (IB) to depart the territory, the new sponsor for the Filipino woman, Leuila Ioane and her husband Joe have come forward to set the record straight.

The couple strongly denies Immigration Board allegations that the Filipino woman, Joselyn M. Intila was employed here in American Samoa illegally without legal documents and authorization from the IB.

According to Mr. Ioane, the allegation is wrong and unfounded. He explained that Intila entered American Samoa under a work permit with the purpose of working for their company.

According to the Ioanes, Mrs. Intila was not deported by the IB, she was given a chance for a voluntary departure and to stay outside of American Samoa jurisdiction for one full year before she could re-enter the territory.

According to Mr. and Mrs. Ioane, who are Mrs. Intila’s new sponsors, the Filipino woman did exactly what the IB told her to do. She left AS and remained outside of its border for one full year before she re-entered the territory under a work permit from their company in January of 2020.

Mrs. Intila continued to stay and work in AS for her new sponsor’s company after the Immigration Office (IO) granted her a 30-day extension in March of 2020 in accordance with the immigration laws.

However, everything changed in the territory due to COVID-19 and that’s how Mrs. Intila got stuck here in the territory and was unable to travel back to her homeland.

According to the Ioane couple, they have been in contact with the IO during this period of time to assist Mrs. Intila with her immigration status.

However in November of 2021, Gov. Lemanu offered an immigration amnesty program for overstayers in the territory under the emergency declaration for COVID-19. This would allow foreigners living in the territory illegally to legalize their status.

According to the Ioane couple, they went to Lt. Gov. Talauega Eleasalo Ale, (who was Attorney General in 2020 and who signed the request to allow Mrs. Intila to enter the territory under their company’s work permit) and requested his help regarding Mrs. Intila’s immigration status.

“And after reviewing Mrs. Intila’s paper work and background, Talauega told us that she is a good candidate for the Amnesty Program and that’s why Mrs. Intila applied for the Amnesty Program,” Mrs. Ioane explained.

The couple also stated that it was Talauega, while he was the Attorney General who granted the application for the work permit to allow Mrs. Intila to re-enter the territory after he was satisfied that the Filipino woman had served one full year outside of American Samoa after her voluntary departure in 2018.

The couple further explained that all the paperwork for Mrs. Intila was submitted to the Immigration Office for evaluation and after the evaluation, the Immigration officer who handled the case gave them the green light to register Mrs. Intila for the Amnesty Program.

“If the Immigration officer had advised us that Mrs. Intila is not eligible for the Amnesty Program, we would never have let her register under the program,” Mrs. Ioane said.

Mr. Ioane added that based on his own personal understanding, the Amnesty Program is about forgiveness. Whatever happened in the past is no more and the person who lived here in the territory illegally will get the chance to renew his or her immigration status and become a legal resident in the territory.

“However, that is not the case with Mrs. Intila, she was a suitable candidate for the Amnesty Program, according to the Lt. Governor and the Immigration officer, but she was denied by the IB for no reason at all,” Mr. Ioane said.

According to the couple, they are Samoans and they’re trying to build up their family on island through their small business. “This Filipino woman will help our small business to grow.”

Mr. Ioane explained that their issue is very simple and clear.

“This is what happened. The IB ordered this Filipino lady to depart the territory in 2018 and she respectfully complied with the order and left AS.

“After serving one year outside of territory’s jurisdiction, she came back legally on a work permit approved by the former AG who is currently the Lt. Governor.

“Due to COVID-19, this lady got stuck here and then the Amnesty Program came up to rescue her, but the IB said, no,” he concluded.

Mr and Mrs Ioane said that they’re fighting this case because they want to help Mrs. Intila get her immigration status legal so that she can earn a living like many other foreigners who came here to seek employment to help their family.

Mrs. Intila is asking for a P5 status under the local immigration law, not a SP status.

The P5 status is a common immigration status where the foreigner is sponsored by an American Samoan or a U.S. Citizen, while the SP status stands for ‘Special Provision’ where a foreigner is sponsored by a company like the StarKist employees who come in under the guest worker program.

“We’re not asking for a SP status for Mrs. Intila so that she can work for our small business. We’re asking for a P5 status and if she decides to leave our company and work for another company, that’s her choice. We’re only here to help [her] get a living,” Mr. Ioane stated.