Geri Willis, the Public School System’s Troops-to-Teacher Program director, said there are 200 CNMI servicemembers now in the Middle East, but she’s not sure how many of them have guest worker parents.
The federally funded Troops-to-Teacher Program assists eligible members of the armed forces to obtain certification or licensing as teachers and to become highly qualified teachers.
Irene N. Tantiado, a workers advocate, met Willis this week to discuss the concerns of guest workers whose children are serving in the U.S. military.
Janet Curioso of the group Guest Worker Parents of U.S. Citizen Children with Disabilities has also asked assistance from Igor V. Timofeyev, the federal immigration policy and special advisor for refugee and asylum affairs director.
“In some cases, the children are not even fit to travel as their health might be put to risk,” Curioso said, referring to the children with disabilities.
“Added to this is the fact that our children were born and raised here in CNMI. This has been their home. They speak Chamorro and English. Given their physical and mental limitations, they will also have a hard time adjusting to a new environment,” Curioso said in her letter to Timofeyev.
Tantiado said the CNMI government is not ready to address the need of the children with disabilities if their nonresident parents are forced to leave the commonwealth.
Curioso said they feel that their children are being treated as second class citizens because their parents are only guest workers and not CNMI residents.
“We are knocking on your heart as parents to please look into our case with mercy and sympathy,” she said in her letter to Timofeyev.
Tantiado said the parents group will also ask the Attorney General’s Office to look into their concerns.
