“[Interior’s] report recommends unique immigration treatment for foreign workers in the commonwealth that is not justified under any rationale and should be considered only in the context of overall immigration reform in the United States,” Fitial told the U.S. House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife during its Tuesday oversight hearing in Washington, D.C. on the implementation of the federalization law.
“With respect to the report’s identification of several alternatives for changing the status of aliens in the commonwealth, I believe that this is an important matter that should be considered at the local level before any federal legislation is considered…. I plan to discuss with the CNMI Legislature whether a referendum be prepared on this subject for consideration of the commonwealth’s voters at the Nov. 2010 election,” he added.
U.S. Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas Tony Babauta, who also testified during the hearing, stressed that Congress has the power and responsibility with respect to territories and the establishment of immigration policy just like what it did in 1982 for thousands of guest workers in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Babauta said the federalization law, U.S. P.L. 110-229 or the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008, required Interior to make a recommendation regarding CNMI guest workers to Congress on or before the May 8, 2010 deadline.
“The report was submitted to Congress on April 30, 2010. In addition, I personally presented the report to the governor’s office in Saipan while the [federal] ombudsman held listening sessions with stakeholders on the same day. In the report, the department recommends, consistent with the goals of comprehensive immigration reform, that Congress consider permitting alien workers who have lawfully resided in the CNMI for a minimum of five years to apply for long-term status under the immigration and nationality laws of the United States,” said Babauta.
Conflict
During the hearing, the governor said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s implementation of the federalization “has been seriously flawed.”
“The mandates of the law have not been followed; the procedures adopted have actually decreased security in the commonwealth since the CNRA was passed; our economy has been unnecessarily hurt, making us more reliant on federal assistance; and the process has been essentially a one-way street with little or no consultation and cooperation with the CNMI,” he said and asked the committee to amend the law as necessary.
Specifically, the governor cited DHS’s failure to timely come up with regulations that will govern the presence of foreign investors and workers in the CNMI.
“The department’s delay in issuing these regulations in final form has contributed to the increased uncertainty and instability in the commonwealth’s economy over the last year. Many current CNMI foreign investors have left the community,” he said and noted that about $6.7 million worth of investments were lost over time on the islands.
“The lack of a federal work-permitting program has contributed to uncertainty among employers and workers alike with respect to the status of foreign workers who have, or do not have, an umbrella permit from the CNMI Department of Labor,” he added.
Marred efforts
Babauta, however, defended DHS saying the agency had successfully established offices and staff at ports of entry and elsewhere in the CNMI but its efforts are marred by the non-cooperation of the Fitial administration.
He said it was the CNMI’s different interpretation about the federal government’s authority on immigration and labor matters on the islands that created undue uncertainty among employers and their foreign workers.
“Despite the best efforts of DHS to educate the community, workers and businesses, the CNMI continues to administer the same procedures regarding employment of aliens as were required prior to the effective date of CNRA, including issuing administrative decisions purporting to revoke or modify alien work authorization in the CNMI,” Babauta said.
“The CNMI Office of the Governor and the Department of Labor have issued guidance providing contradictory and incorrect information to the public, and advising employers in the CNMI that as long as they comply with local law, they are not subject to an important federal civil rights law enforced by the U.S. Department of Justice that the CNRA extended to the CNMI,” he added.
Senate President Paul A. Manglona, who was also among the witnesses, said the CNMI government lost about $5 million since CNRA was implemented.
House Committee on Federal and Foreign Relations Chairman Frederick P. Deleon Guerrero, in his testimony, said Interior’s improved status recommendation “has caused confusion and misunderstandings in the community. A number of foreign workers have the misconception that an improved immigration status will in fact take place and have taken actions which may jeopardize their eligibility for any U.S. immigration status. Some foreign workers believe that they need not comply with their existing employment contracts, breaching their contracts and engaging in unauthorized employment.”
Deleon Guerrero, Ind.-Saipan, also noted the “fundamental difference between the commonwealth’s prior immigration policies and the policies underlying the federal Immigration and Nationality Act. The commonwealth through its Constitution prohibited the granting of any permanent residence to aliens.”
He said this resulted in the hiring of “temporary foreign workers…to fill permanent employment needs. Under U.S. immigration law, temporary foreign workers may only fill temporary employment needs. The commonwealth does not have a sufficient permanent work force to meet the permanent employment needs. The problem is compounded by a significant amount of the permanent employment needs being for low skilled positions which cannot be filled through employment based permanent residency.”
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