REPRESENTATIVE Herman T. Palacios wants aliens found guilty of entering into sham marriages to pay a fine of no less than $2,000, jailed for up to five years and deported.
Palacios, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Labor and Immigration, pre-filed H.B. 13-104 which seeks to penalize aliens in the commonwealth who enter into fraudulent marriages.
The bill was co-sponsored by House Vice Speaker Manuel A. Tenorio, R-Saipan; House Minority Leader Oscar M. Babauta, Covenant-Saipan; Gloria DLC. Cabrera, R-Saipan; Norman S. Palacios, D-Tinian; William S. Torres, R-Saipan; and Daniel O. Quitugua, R-Rota.
“We decided to have this bill because there is an increasing number of persons entering into fraudulent marriages for the purpose of becoming permanent residents of the commonwealth,” Palacios, R-Saipan, said. He said reports indicate that aliens pay up to $20,000 for these sham marriages.
“There is presently no CNMI law specifically prohibiting this conduct. Thus it is in the best interest of the people of the CNMI to deter such conduct to prevent unqualified persons from becoming residents by subverting the institution of marriage within the commonwealth,” Palacios said.
