The immigration hearing for Raynaldo Verdeflor, one of two Filipino men arrested in June for violating the terms of his work permit, has been postponed until the end of August, says Alex Furlong, president of the Yukon Federation of Labour.

Verdeflor's hearing, originally scheduled for Wednesday, was delayed following a request from Furlong, who plans to represent the migrant worker.

"I wrote the Immigration and Refugee Board July 15 and received no response, so on Monday I sent another quick letter with a little bit stronger language,” said Furlong.

"I need to be provided with disclosure (and it would've been) a denial of natural justice if they chose to proceed.”

The labour federation boss received confirmation of the postponement – with a specific date yet to be announced – on the same day the board issued an exclusion order for 28-year-old Francis Dura.

On Monday, Dura, the second Filipino nabbed during the course of Verdeflor's arrest, was declared ineligible to remain in Canada for breaking the terms of his work permit. Dura must return to the Philippines, and must wait a year before he can apply to re-enter Canada.

While Dura qualified for legal aid, Verdeflor was not as lucky, and Furlong has stepped into the breach.

"It's more common (foreign workers brought before the immigration board) get no representation ... it's not very favourable to anybody when that happens,” Furlong said, directing questions for an explanation to Nils Clarke, director of the Yukon Legal Services Society.

As of press time this afternoon, Clarke had not responded to the Star's request for comment.

Both Dura and Verdeflor are in Canada under the federal government's temporary foreign workers program and possess visas valid for employment only in Alberta.

On Jan. 16, 2010, Dura landed in Calgary but was informed his job at a Canadian Tire outlet there would not begin until March 1. Having spent nearly $4,000 to get to Canada, Dura was broke and called his aunt, Ailene Gayangos, who paid for his plane ticket to Whitehorse.

Verdeflor, 45, was laid off in the spring by his employer, Alberta Oats Milling Ltd., so he too came to the territory in search of another job. Prior to arriving in the Yukon, neither of the men knew each other.

Before Dura's arrest, he was working at a Tim Hortons outlet in Whitehorse, and the donut shop was in the process of having him approved for the Yukon Nominee Program that allows businesses in the territory to sponsor foreign workers.

However, when officials at the Education department – which administers the nominee program – learned Dura was doing shifts at the restaurant while his paperwork was working through the system, they told Tim Hortons to suspend Dura's hours until the process could be finalized.

Verdeflor managed to find a job at another busy Whitehorse coffee shop – the Chocolate Claim – a work stint that lasted just three weeks.

The father of two, who is working overseas to pay for his daughters' education back in the Philippines, said he believed the Chocolate Claim's owner, Glenys Baltimore, would sponsor him in the Yukon Nominee Program.

Baltimore said she was until she realized Verdeflor didn't have a valid work permit. He did have a social insurance number, Baltimore noted, and said his permit was valid, so she gave him a job.

It is at this point where the stories diverge.

Verdeflor said Baltimore withheld three weeks' pay, and when he finally received his cheque from a Canadian Border Services agent who apprehended him, it was short nearly 20 hours.

Baltimore denies withholding Verdeflor's pay, or shortchanging him. She said she contacted Canadian Border Services because she was unsure if it is against the law to pay somebody working illegally.

Officials at Border Services told her to issue the cheque and thanked her for the tip.

When the Canadian Border Services agent went to find paperwork related to Verdeflor at a Whitehorse residence, Dura was discovered hiding in a closet. When the agent checked his passport and discovered a pay stub from Tim Hortons, Dura was also taken into custody.

Furlong has made an appeal to Jason Kenney, the federal Citizenship and Immigration minister, to waive Dura's exclusion order on compassionate grounds.