US immigration authorities in California asked an immigration court on Friday to reverse its decision to free fugitive Rebar founder Wang You-theng (
Wang was released from a Los Angeles immigration detention center on Aug. 7 after spending six months behind bars as US and Taiwanese authorities sought a way to legally deny his entry into the US and have him returned to Taiwan to face justice.
He was released after a Board of Immigration Appeal (BIA) judge ruled that the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency had wrongly arrested him.
"We filed a motion to reconsider today," said Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for the ICE office in Los Angeles.
"We're asking the Board to reconsider its previous ruling and to assign a three-member panel to review the case. The appeal was filed this morning," she said.
"The basis of our filing was simply that we believe that the original immigration judge's finding that Wang was not an arriving alien and the board's ruling supporting that finding arose from a factual error and we've asked the board to seat a panel to reconsider the decision," Kice said.
Wang, who fled Taiwan through China last year and arrived in the US in January, was admitted on a valid Taiwan passport and US visa. After he arrived, however, Taiwan revoked his passport, invalidating his visa.
In early February, he attempted to leave the US, apparently to slip out of the grasp of the US and Taiwanese authorities pursuing his case. While trying to get to Myanmar, he was refused transit entry in Singapore at Taiwan's request and was put on the first plane back to Los Angeles, where he was arrested by ICE on his return as an illegal alien.
On Mar. 28, an immigration court judge ruled against the ICE, saying that Wang had never left the US since he had not been admitted to another country. On August 3, the Board upheld that ruling and Wang was released four days later.
"Our position is that he is, under law, an arriving alien and that's why we filed this motion," Kice said. "We believe that the original immigration judge and the original member of the BIA who reviewed this case and found that he was not an arriving alien, that their ruling is in error."
Pending the ICE motion to reconsider, Wang remained under close observation by the ICE to prevent him from fleeing again.
"We're continuing to monitor him while this legal process plays out," although he will remain free in the interim, Kice said.
She could not say how long it would take the board to assign the panel or for the panel to make its decision, but the ICE has asked for expedited proceedings.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
RSS