Chef’s immigration fight
moves to the U.S. Senate

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By Betty Shimabukuro
bshimabukuro@starbulletin.com

Chef Chai Chaowasaree's fight to remain in the United States has moved from the federal courthouse to the U.S. Senate.

Hawaii Sen. Daniel Akaka introduced what is called a private bill Wednesday, which could result in permanent residency for the chef-owner of Chai's Island Bistro in the Aloha Tower Marketplace and Singha Thai Cuisine in Waikiki.

The action stays deportation proceedings against Chaowasaree while the bill is pending, which could be until the end of next year.

Although his battle to stay in the United States if far from over, Chaowasaree said yesterday that he feels "a lot more comfortable and confident."

"I think this is possibly the best birthday and Christmas gift I'm ever going to get," he said.

Akaka's spokesman, Paul Cardus, said the senator is not seeking to impose his reading of the case on the Immigration and Naturalization Service, but rather believes the issues should be examined further and that Chaowasaree had exhausted his legal options in court. "The senator believes that by introducing the legislation he is compelling a hard second look at the case," Cardus said.

The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, which will request a report from the INS, he said.

The INS has been trying to return Chaowasaree to his native Thailand for more than 10 years, based on an allegedly fraudulent marriage between the chef and a U.S. citizen.

The case has been on appeal since 1991, but the INS stepped up proceedings a few months ago, saying Chaowasaree -- whose legal name is Vichai Sae Tung -- abandoned his appeal when he returned to Thailand last year to see his ailing father. Chaowasaree maintains that an INS official approved his trip.

"The underlying issue -- the validity of his marriage -- somehow got lost because of the chef's supposed self-deportation," Cardus said. He said Akaka hoped the INS and Chaowasaree could negotiate a settlement to the case.

Chaowasaree's attorney, Robert Ichikawa, said he remains open to discussions with the INS. He also said "substantive issues" remain in the marriage case that deserved consideration by the Board of Immigration Appeals, but that process was forestalled by INS actions this year. "We feel on our side that the situation was unique enough that there should be something else done."

INS District Director Donald Radcliffe, however, said the marriage issue was decided in two INS proceedings. INS investigators ruled the marriage a "sham" in 1991, after Chaowasaree applied for permanent residency. An Immigration Court ruled Chaowasaree "deportable" in 1993.

"I don't know what there is to negotiate," Radcliffe said yesterday. "He has never had legal status in the United States, and there is no legal way for us to give it to him."

Cardus said attorneys in his office have reviewed transcripts of court proceedings before U.S. District Judge David Ezra.

The senator was struck by Ezra's comments that deportation would be a "harsh outcome" but that he had no options under federal law to halt the process.

Cardus said private bills were once common in Congress but that Akaka has not introduced one in more than a decade. Five or six other private bills are pending before the U.S. Senate this session, he said.

"Notwithstanding any other provision of law," the bill states, Chaowasaree "shall be held and considered to have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence."

Radcliffe said he has not had to deal with a private bill in 12 years. They are not normally settled quickly, he said. "Oh no, no. In fact, it's a long, drawn-out process."

Introduction of the bill does buy time for Chaowasaree, who was imprisoned in the Oahu Community Correctional Facility in February pending immediate deportation. He was released pending appeal, but until Akaka began looking into his case in July, Chaowasaree believed he could be forced to leave at any time.

Now he is making some longer-term plans that include finishing a cookbook, some restaurant consulting work and possibly expanding his businesses. The last few months have been constant turmoil, he said. "O-Triple-C and 9th Circuit Court and federal court, and up and down and up and down. It seems like it's been going on forever."