President Obama believes that America’s broken immigration system can only be fixed by putting politics aside and has offered a solution to secure the borders, enforce the laws and reaffirm America’s heritage as a nation of immigrants.
He believes that U.S. immigration policy should be driven by the best judgment of what is in the economic interest of the United States and what is in the best interest of American workers.
He promised to fix a dysfunctional immigration bureaucracy and enable legal immigration so that families stay together.
He is also supporting a system that allows undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, learn English, and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens.
Fellow foreign workers, let us examine ourselves in view of the impending implementation of U.S. P.L. 110-229.
There are advantages for employers if all foreign workers are admitted as CNMI residents after long years of continued employment.
We contributed to the economic needs of the island. We deserved to be regarded and rewarded as foreign workers with good standing and/or as immigrant aliens because we were legally admitted as guest workers.
Section 6 of U.S. P.L. 110-229 states that the Secretary of the Interior in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Office of CNMI Governor, shall report to the U.S. Congress not later than two years after the enactment of the law:
• The number of aliens residing in the CNMI;
• The description of the legal status of such aliens;
• The number of years each aliens has been residing in the commonwealth;
• The current and future requirements of the commonwealth economy for an alien workforce; and
• Such recommendation to the congress, as the Secretary may deem appropriate, related to whether or not the Congress should consider permitting lawfully admitted guest workers lawfully residing in the commonwealth on such enactment date to apply for long-term status under the immigration and nationality laws of the United States.
What if they amend the law and extend its implementation for another 180 days again from Nov. 28, 2009?
Our length of stay and service on U.S. soil, the CNMI, would exceed the required years to be able to apply as immigrant or legal permanent resident in the U.S. There is hope! Let them hear us!
CARLITO J. MARQUEZ
Puerto Rico, Saipan
