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employee involved in a dispute about his visa remains on unpaid leave and facing possible deportation, his attorney said, after the school board refused Monday to follow a recommendation to terminate him.

For the past two years, Mario Vilela Orozco, a native of Peru, has worked as a teacher in the two-way language immersion program.

over that time to sponsor his H1-B work visa, but the paperwork was never completed. All along, Vilela Orozco was working illegally.

When district officials discovered his illegal status this summer, they recommended that the school board fire him.

After meeting in executive session Monday, the school board voted 6-1 during its board meeting to reject the recommendation. Vilela Orozco's attorney Herb Grey said Tuesday that his client was the subject of the vote.

Board member LeeAnn Larsen was the sole dissenter.

"I accepted the district's recommendation," Larsen said after the public meeting. "I felt the board didn't have any alternative."

Vilela Orozco, 40, came to the United States with dreams of a solid education, a good teaching job and eventual American citizenship. He earned his master's degree in teaching from Portland State University and worked for the Estacada Web Academy in Clackamas.

In 2010, Vilela Orozco applied to be a teacher at Whitford Middle School in Beaverton and explained his visa situation to school officials. They promised to file the visa employer transfer application and pay for the sponsorship.

Foreigners on H1-B work visas, which are valid for three years and renewable for another three, are only authorized to work for the employer who submitted the application.

The dispute surfaced in June, when the school district became aware of Vilela Orozco's illegal status, fired him, and then rehired him after a union attorney intervened. The district offered him $3,000, the cost of the sponsorship, for his resignation. He refused. He now remains on unpaid administrative leave.

Much of the confusion comes from miscommunication. Vilela Orozco said he had emailed school officials for updates about his visa status but didn't receive answers. In response, a lawyer for the district said Vilela Orozco did not indicate the type of visa on his I-9 employment eligibility verification form, only that he is an alien authorized to work.

Regardless of his immigration status, Vilela Orozco was slated to be laid off, a lawyer said in a previous news report.

Grey said he was glad the board had not fired his client. He hopes to continue exploring options that will allow Vilela Orozco to stay and work legally in the country.

The district is evaluating next steps for Vilela, said Maureen Wheeler, district spokeswoman. She declined to comment further on personnel issues.

In the meantime, Vilela Orozco said he applied for a B-1 business visa and is waiting to hear back. Immigration officials have not yet contacted him, he said.

"Right now, I just need someone or an employer who will say we really need you and don't think it's right to send you back to Peru," Vilela Orozco said.

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