By Haidee V. Eugenio
Variety Assistant Editor

LEGISLATION to federalize the CNMI immigration system is expected to be introduced this year but U.S. Senate staffers Allen Stayman and Josh Johnson say their visit to Saipan involves an issue broader than immigration. They are also here to find out how the local government is responding to the economic downturn.
“Our primary concern is how the local government plans to deal with the declining revenues and what’s going to be an imbalance in the workforce because so much of the economy is leaving,” Stayman told Variety in an interview minutes after his and Johnson’s arrival at the airport on Saturday afternoon.
“So I think that’s going to be our first question, ‘How does the local government plan on dealing with the changing economic picture here?’ and that will be connected (to the immigration issue),” he added.
Johnson and Stayman, who last visited Saipan in Jan. 2006, said they are here to follow up on the Feb. 8 Senate committee hearing in Washington, D.C. on CNMI labor, immigration, law enforcement and economy.
“We’re out here to talk to the folks to see how things are working and see where to proceed,” Johnson said.
The two were greeted at the airport by some 25 members of Dekada, a movement which seeks permanent residence status for long-term nonresidents in the CNMI.
Johnson and Stayman, the former director of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs, are staffers of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, which has oversight over the CNMI and other insular areas.
Stayman said there will be no specific report coming out of their trip which he described as a continuation of the Feb. 8 hearing — “to bring us up to speed on the details; but again, the issue is the economic downturn and the social problems resulting from that and how the government responds to that.”
Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Villagomez, in his testimony before the U.S. Senate committee, said the federalization of CNMI immigration should “be deferred in light of the changed circumstances in the CNMI and our strong enforcement record.”
Johnson and Stayman said the introduction of the immigration measure in the U.S. Senate will depend in part on the results of their talks with the CNMI government and private sector.
Stephen Sander, OIA’s congressional liaison, arrived on Friday. OIA earlier said Sander’s inclusion shows the Bush administration’s willingness “to work with Congress” on CNMI issues.