Syed expressed appreciation to Sablan for bringing the “real situation” of guest workers in the CNMI to Obama.
In his meeting with Obama, Sablan in a media release stated: “I did have the opportunity to explain to the president that there are gaps in the existing law. This is putting families at risk and threatens long-term residents, who were born in the Marianas or had permanent residence status under commonwealth law.”
Syed said he is hoping that through the president’s administrative authority, Obama will grant parole-in-place to long-term foreign workers to allow them to legally remain in the CNMI until legislative relief is in place.
The United Workers Movement, he said, will send a letter to Obama.
“We will tell the U.S. president that we are worried about our immigration status. Many of us living here with legal status with family and children should not be compared with those people who entered the U.S. without proper documentation,” he said.
In the CNMI, he added, all guest workers have proper documentation.
He said a parole-in-place will protect guest workers while they wait for the U.S. Congress to act on the U.S. Department of the Interior’s April 2010 report recommending improved status for foreign workers who have been legally in the CNMI for at least five years.
Syed is also hoping that the parole-in-place will also lead to the passage of Sablan’s bill that would grant CNMI-only resident status to certain nonresidents, including the parents of U.S. citizen children.
Syed said alien workers are still hoping to have a better status in the CNMI.
“We are asking for a green card pathway to U.S. citizenship,” he added.
