A registered sex offender from the US who went missing after entering Taiwan has been found and would be deported in light of the risk he poses to the public, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday.
The agency launched a search for Levi Forrest Wallace, 43, after it was informed by the American Institute of Taiwan (AIT) that he had entered Taiwan on Oct. 2 on a tourist visa.
He was not on the US government’s wanted list.
Photo courtesy of the National Immigration Agency
Wallace was sentenced to 90 days in jail with a two-year probation in 2001 after he was convicted of sexual delinquency of a minor in Oregon, information from the AIT showed.
Wallace did not stay in a hotel in Taoyuan as stated on his card, the NIA said, adding that he was then placed on the agency’s closely watched list and would not be permitted to stay when found.
The agency subsequently alerted the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Labor and National Police Agency to watch out for Wallace and prevent him from finding a job or securing a permit to stay in Taiwan, the NIA said.
The education ministry also asked education departments across the country to report by today whether any cram school in their locality had hired Wallace.
Before finding Wallace, the NIA had said he would be deported from Taiwan and permanently banned from entering again pursuant to the Immigration Act (入出國及移民法).
The agency’s requests for a subpoena and permission to wiretap were both denied by the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, on the grounds that the agency had no right to do so, as Wallace had committed no crime in Taiwan and had no criminal motive or attempt.
The AIT did not respond to the NIA’s inquiry on whether Wallace could return to the US, the agency said.
The Taoyuan Police Department’s Dayuan Precinct located Wallace in an apartment on Taipei’s Minsheng E Road at about 5pm yesterday and detained him.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS