Posted at 9:48 a.m., Thursday, October 25, 2001

Akaka could intercede on Thai chef's behalf

By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer

Immigration authorities in Honolulu are waiting to see if a rarely used form of congressional legislation will allow popular Thai chef Chai Chaowasaree to remain in the United States.

Donald Radcliffe, district director for Immigration and Naturalization Service in Hawai'i, today said U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, (D-Hawai'i) may submit private legislation on the chef's behalf.

"The senator asked me to delay any removal proceedings until such time as he gets a report from a Senate subcommittee on the judiciary advising him on the appropriateness of such private legislation on Chai's behalf."

Radcliffe said the subcomittee received the inquiry several months ago.

"We are now making inquiries into where it is in the process," Radcliffe said. "It does seem that a lot of time has passed."

Chaowasaree has been fighting deportation since 1991 when the INS determined that his 1985 marriage to a Big Island woman was fraudulent, and moved to deport him.

His problems were compounded when he left the United States to visit his ailing father in Thailand. Upon his return, INS officials told him he had voided his appeal and violated the terms of his residency. Chaowasaree countered that INS officials at Honolulu airport led him to believe he could return on a temporary alien registration card.

Private legislation benefits only one person and was common here in 1970s, Radcliffe said, "but this is the first one I have seen in 12 years."

If Akaka rejected the idea, Chaowasaree would be given a few days notice before being required to come down to immigration offices for his removal, Radcliffe said. Once there, he would be put on a plane "within hours."