THE Bureau of Immigration has denied entry to another American who has been convicted in the United States for sex-related crimes.
Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said Thomas Henry VanderWaal, 39, was intercepted at the NAIA Terminal 1 last November 2 upon his arrival aboard a China Eastern Airlines flight from Taipei, Taiwan.
Tansingco said the American was immediately issued an exclusion order after the immigration officer who processed his arrival learned that he was on the BI’s alert list of registered sex offenders (RSO).
“Our immigration law expressly forbids the entry of aliens who have been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude because they are undesirable aliens,” Tansingco said.
He said information from Interpol’s national central bureau in Manila showed that VanderWaal, who hails from Rock Valley, Sioux County, Iowa, has convictions related to sex offenses against minors in the US.
His convictions involved criminal offenses, including child pornography, sexual abuse, and molesting a child under 15 years of age.
Aside from barring him from entering the country, Tansingco said he has also issued an order directing the inclusion of VanderWaal in the BI’s blacklist of unwanted aliens to prevent his re-entry.
“This effectively bans him from re-entering the Philippines so that he won’t pose a threat and risk to our women and children,” he added.
VanderWaal is the eighth American previously convicted of sex offenses barred from entering the country since last August.