The transition is now scheduled to begin on June 1.
Napolitano can push back the start date using the authority given her in the Consolidated Natural Resources Act, which mandated the transition from local to federal control of immigration.
“I believe that the additional 180-day period necessary to meet the congressional intent expressed in the CRNA,” wrote Sablan in a letter to Napolitano this week.
Effective border control to protect national security was part of the rationale for the Act.
But “co-equal,” said Sablan, was the congressional intent “to avoid adverse economic effects and expand the potential for future economic growth in the commonwealth.”
A five-year transition period is supposed to begin on June 1.
But Sablan believes that there isn’t enough funding available to establish fully effective border controls.
He is also concerned that even now, nine months after the Act became law, Homeland Security has only issued regulations covering the visa waiver program. This lack of guidance makes planning by businesses and individuals extremely difficult.
Sablan also pointed out to Napolitano the potentially negative effects of the Act on immediate relatives of U.S. citizens in the Northern Marianas.
The 180-day delay, he said, would give time to find a workable solution to making sure these relatives would not be deported when the immediate relative status they have from the commonwealth expires.
Funding problems may be the easiest for everyone to agree on.
No money has been specifically appropriated for new tasks that Homeland Security will take on at six entry points in the Northern Marianas.
In a report to Congress, Homeland Security estimated the total resources needed for additional personnel and infrastructure for FY 2009 and 2010 to be $91.4 million.
