“Every litigant considers the court’s opinion and deciding what was held and what the basis for the holding are but we are reasonably optimistic. I am sure the other side has reasons to be optimistic as well. As I’ve said to you before, the issues were presented in a fair and competent way by both sides,” he said in a news conference yesterday afternoon.
On March 12, the judge took under advisement the CNMI’s motion for preliminary injunction to stop the U.S. from federalizing the islands’ immigration system starting June 1 and that of the U.S. Department of Justice’s motion to dismiss the CNMI’s complaint.
Willens, the attorney who helped draft the islands’ Covenant with the U.S., is representing the CNMI in the complaint along with lawyers from Jenner & Block.
He said they don’t expect Friedman to immediately issue a ruling but they do expect him to acknowledge the case at hand is unique.
The administration filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and Labor, arguing that the federalization provisions of U.S. Public Law 110-229 are against the CNMI’s right to self-government embodied in the Covenant.
It further argued that federalization will result in an economic disaster for the islands’ tourism-based economy.
The U.S. Department of Justice said the CNMI’s economic disaster scenario is not based on facts as the islands are already experiencing economic crisis even before the law’s implementation.
The U.S. government lawyers also argued the lawsuit wasn’t brought forth by the CNMI attorney general, therefore, it should be dismissed.
Moreover, they pointed out that the Covenant allows the U.S. Congress to extend federal immigration law to the islands.
Willens said it may take six weeks or more for the judge to decide the case.
“It will be customary in a case like this to take five or six or more weeks because it is a very unusual lawsuit. The court acknowledged the novelty of the case, the history of the Covenant and the complexities of the unique economy here in the commonwealth, which is so far, remote, from the mainland that it raises a whole set of special economic issues and therefore legal issues as to the propriety in applying the U.S. immigration laws here,” he said.
“The court was interested in the issues and recognized the importance to the commonwealth and we think, based on his past performance as a lawyer and a judge, he’ll give it his attention and his rightful opinion,” he added.
