“I believe that was the result of their dialogue with Congressman Kilili,” he said, referring to the bill introduced by Sablan in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Sablan’s H.R. 1466 will grant parents of U.S. citizen children CNMI-only resident status.
The group of U.S. citizen children 12 years old and above met with Sablan, Sagana said.
“They were given an assurance that the congressman would look into the situation of their parents,” Sagana said, adding that the group was working independently and not affiliated with any guest workers group.
“We really appreciate the efforts of Congressman Sablan and we thank him for introducing that bill,” he said.
According to Sagana, there are many local residents who also support Sablan’s bill, which Gov. Benigno R. Fitial said is unlikely to be passed by the U.S. Congress.
Some of the nonresident parents are friends, neighbors and godparents of local residents, Sagana said.
He is hoping that Sablan will also include other long-term guest workers in the CNMI in his bill.
He said there are lots of guest workers who have been here for up to 30 years but have no U.S. citizen children.
Still, he added, Sablan’s bill “is a good beginning for the alien workers.”
The measure, if enacted into law, will apply to nonresidents married to U.S. citizens; those who were granted permanent residency by the CNMI government; the 92 people who were born here between Jan. 1 1974 and Jan. 9, 1978; and the nonresidents who became immediate relatives of U.S. citizens as of May 8, 2008 “notwithstanding the age” of these U.S. citizens.
