For months, Chilean workers at ST Engineering say they uprooted their families and moved to Pensacola, only to be fired from their jobs after just one year. Many of the 60 workers are now facing deportation while they scramble to find new jobs.

ST Engineering calls this a government issue and a "work authorization expiration" -- not layoffs. The company said the visas for the workers expired and they had to follow government rules.

"The terminology that's been used -- or the phrasing of 'layoff' is incorrect," said William Hafner, Chief Integration Officer at VT MAE. "No one was laid off."...

"There has been no intentional loss of labor or labor as it has been characterized," he said. "What has happened is that the work authorizations for foreign workers are limited in duration. They're only good for a period of time. And we've come up on those expiration dates for a number of our workers and they've had to leave."...

To support the affected employees, MAE is working with them individually to assess their needs and plans.

"I know our legal team, our HR groups, are working on that. I don't have the details, but they're diligently working on that because we want these folks here," Hafner said.

MAE is also providing goodwill financial support and travel costs during the alternate work authorization process for those who want to potentially return to the company.