Fitial said he also wants to convince Napolitano to include Russia and China in the Guam-CNMI visa waiver program.
“I plan to go back and talk to the secretary herself [Napolitano] because she is the big boss,” the governor said in a brief interview last week. He did not specify a date.
Although the regulations for the visa waiver program do not include China and Russia, Fitial said he’s not giving up hope.
The NMI federalization law under the U.S. P.L. 110-229 or the Consolidated Natural Resources Act, allows the Homeland Security secretary to delay the federal takeover of local immigration by 180 days.
“For the extension of the implementation date, I plan to go back and discuss how we can work together to lessen the harshness that will result from the federalization law,” Fitial said.
The federalization law is set to take effect on June 1.
By next month, the regulations should have already been drafted and published in the Federal Register.
Fitial, who has sued the U.S. government over the federalization law, said the delay in the transition phase should be made public at least one month ahead of its scheduled start or by May 1.
Should Napolitano grant the CNMI’s request for a delay, she must notify the U.S. Congress not later than 30 days prior to June 1.
Fitial said the delay will enable Homeland Security to carefully draft regulations concerning the changes on the islands’ immigration system as well as ensure that necessary facilities and personnel are in place by then.
Moreover, Fitial said the delay will allow the CNMI to continue hosting Russian and Chinese tourists for six more months.
This, he added, will “avoid the injury to the commonwealth economy threatened by [Homeland Security’s] current ‘final’ regulations,” he said.
The CNMI’s tourism-based economy stands to lose more than $200 million in potential economic activities without Chinese and Russian tourists, he added.
