In an excellent article (and photo gallery), the Wall Street Journal chronicled the bizarre story of Buddhist Monk Phra Bunphithak Jomthong. Monk Jomthong is facing deportation because, according to the government, he engaged in unauthorized employment at his temple. What did he do? Monk Jomthong was “volunteering his religious services and physical energy to make [the temple’s] community flourish.” His voluntary services included leading religious chants and helping immigrant children learn Thai. In return for his voluntary services, he received no money. In fact, Monk Jomthong has taken an oath of poverty and sleeps on the floor of the temple with only a blanket.
To claim that volunteering is employment for immigration purposes is to distort the logic and purpose of the law. Now, to avoid deportation, Monk Jomthong’s attorney must convince an immigration judge of this distortion. Lets hope that his attorney succeeds.