BI Intensifies Crackdown on Foreign Offenders and Fugitives

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has intensified its enforcement against foreign nationals considered threats to public safety, barring two American nationals convicted of child sex offenses and arresting a Korean fugitive wanted for fraud in separate operations. The agency said Sunday that the two Americans, aged 53 and 57, were excluded from the country after immigration officers verified their criminal records in the United States. The 53-year-old was barred at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 on Aug. 20. BI records showed he was convicted in 2006 of sexual assault and a pattern of abuse involving a 14-year-old victim. The other American was excluded at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport on Aug. 16 after officers verified his 2005 conviction in the United States involving a child. Both were denied entry under Philippine immigration law covering foreign nationals whose presence is considered “prejudicial to public interest.” Meanwhile, BI Fugitive Search Unit agents, in coordination with the Korean National Police Agency, arrested a 65-year-old Korean in Makati City on Aug. 25. He was wanted in South Korea under a 2020 arrest warrant for fraud. He was also found to be undocumented and overstaying in the Philippines. During the operation, BI agents also apprehended another Korean national, 85, who had been ordered deported in 2015 for being improperly documented. “All these cases demonstrate our commitment to keeping children and vulnerable persons safe,” BI Commissioner Joel Anthony M. Viado said in a statement, adding that foreign fugitives “cannot expect to hide in the Philippines.” The BI said the foreign nationals were placed under its custody pending the disposition of their respective immigration cases.