It can be improved
THE CNMI delegate has offered a well-thought-out policy framework that aims to deal with the CNMI’s workforce needs four years before the expiration of the CW program.
As should be evident by now, the federal CW legislation is a well-meaning (they’re always well-meaning) attempt to “turn circles into triangles,” to borrow a phrase from Nobel Laureate Octavio Paz. It is supposed to “wean the CNMI away” from a foreign worker program tailored to its specific needs, so it can embrace a foreign worker program created for the United States — a nation with a population of 340 million and the world’s largest economy. However, U.S. officials and business stakeholders have described the federal program as a failure in need of comprehensive reform. The decision to apply it anyway to a faraway, remote U.S. territory with a small economy and a shrinking population is a testament to how muddled — and how seemingly beyond repair — the immigration issue has become in the nation’s capital.
No reversal to former times
AS repeatedly pointed out by CNMI officials, past and present, the immigration challenges in the Commonwealth are distinct from those affecting the States. The CNMI’s needs are simpler and more straightforward — and U.S. officials and employers should be familiar with them. Like the States, we have labor shortages in healthcare, construction, and service-oriented jobs. But unlike the States, where some estimates suggest that millions of foreign-born individuals are vital to the economy, the CNMI — as its delegate has noted — would need up to 15,000 CWs only (or possibly far fewer) for another 10-year period starting in 2029.
The CNMI once had a foreign worker population of more than 30,000, comprising the largest share of its workforce. Today, the CNMI has about 4,000 CWs. As the CNMI Labor secretary has noted, U.S. workers now make up about 69% of the overall labor force. Moreover, as the latest CNMI economic report indicates, the average hourly wage earned by employees in the retail and wholesale sectors, as well as in the accommodation and food services sectors, is over $10. The average hourly wage in the construction sector is $11.44, while in healthcare and social assistance, it is over $22.
Forward
WHAT the CNMI wants is a foreign worker program that works — one that addresses federal concerns but whose rules are tailored to the local economy’s unique needs.
This is a nonpartisan issue. Economic growth benefits everyone. The economy needs workers.
In other words, the delegate’s proposed changes to a reauthorized CW program should be non-controversial — many of them have been suggested in the past by other CNMI officials. They deserve the support of the entire CNMI leadership and the public.
In the end, the delegate’s policy framework isn’t about reinventing the wheel. It’s about making it rounder — to get us out of a rut and move us forward.
