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SANCTUARY CITIES AND STATES
INFORMATION RESOURCE
HAWAII IS NOT A SANCTUARY STATE
Sen. Akaka tries to head off deportation of restaurateur
Honolulu Star Bulletin, 1/19/08
Question: What ever happened to Chai's Island Bistro's owner Chai Chaowasaree, the Thai chef who was facing deportation for what the Immigration and Naturalization Service ruled was a sham marriage to a U.S. citizen?
Answer: Chai Chaowasaree, who moved to Hawaii in 1985 and got married a year later, continues to run Island Bistro at Aloha Market Place and Singha Thai Cuisine in Waikiki.
His deportation case has been on hold since 2001 pending a private immigration-relief bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka to allow Chaowasaree to stay in the country.
Chaowasaree's problems began in 1991 when the INS denied his petition to become a permanent U.S. resident, ruling that his 1986 marriage to Victoria Dubray was a sham designed to circumvent immigration laws.
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