Louisiana School Board Considers Green Cards for Filipino Teachers

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The Caddo Parish School Board will vote this week on whether to sponsor 35 teachers from the Philippines for the “green card” that allows permanent U.S. residency.

The Times reports the board is expected to approve the plan.

It says the teachers are well into their fourth year in Caddo Parish Schools, and board attorney Reggie Abrams said it’s time to see the process through.

They’re among more than 43 who came to the parish — and more than 300 who came to Louisiana — from 2007-2009. A labor complaint filed by the American Federation of Teachers in 2009 said many were in “virtual servitude” to Universal Placement International, the company that brought them.

The board and U.S. Department of Labor settled in November.

The settlement paid the teachers a total of $57,380 from a reserve account for expenses related to the Filipino teachers. The rest of that account will be used to sponsor the teacher’s green cards.

At the time of the settlement, the teachers said they were anxious to apply for green cards and had been meeting periodically with district administrators and attorneys to discuss the status of their H1-B visas.

“I cannot describe how much this means to us and our families,” said Flordeliza Asuncion, who arrived in November 2008. “We are all so happy the board is considering this and are excited to begin the process of staying here.”

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