PART 1: The CNMI Can’t Compete on Low Wages Forever.
The CNMI is a U.S. Commonwealth. That simple fact should guide this entire discussion: our workforce system must follow U.S. law, and our economy must stop leaning on a “temporary” foreign labor pipeline that was never intended to become permanent. Extending CW visas, yet again sends the wrong message, and rewards years of poor planning and punishes the U.S. citizens this system is supposed to serve.
The CW program began on November 29, 2009, as a transitional bridge from the local permit system to full federal immigration standards, while allowing employers to supplement the workforce in the meantime. That was more than 16 years ago and the CNMI has graduated over 15,000 young people from high school and college over these 16 years. This is ample time for serious employers to recruit, train, and retain a US citizen workforce. These young men and women want a future in the CNMI, their home. They want stability. They want jobs that pay enough to stay, build families, and contribute to our community.
And this is where our public message collides with reality. At every graduation, leaders tell students, “You are the future.” Yet year after year, we extend CW and continue filling too many positions with foreign labor, without building a real pathway for those same graduates to get hired, develop careers, and sustain their future in the CNMI. If we truly believe they are the future, we must stop exporting opportunities and start investing and creating jobs for our U.S. citizens.
This ongoing dependence also sends a painful message to those who have already sacrificed for this country. It is hurtful and disrespectful to our military Veterans and Reservists, men and women who served, deployed, trained, and stood ready under the U.S. flag, only to return home and compete in a labor market that too often prioritizes cheaper labor over U.S. citizens. For U.S.-educated graduates, it becomes nearly impossible to repay student loans when prevailing job options remain low-wage, limited-growth positions. If we want people to come home and stay home, the CNMI must offer careers with wages and advancement that match the responsibilities we place on our citizens.
We also need to be honest about what some call a “labor shortage.” Recent news reports say National Office Supply is closing because it cannot find workers. But the public record matters. When businesses claim, “no workers,” the first question should be: Where is the recruitment? Employers must post jobs, advertise, interview, and offer wages that attract U.S. citizen applicants. Too often, what is described as a labor shortage is really a wage shortage, an attempt to keep labor cheap and flexible while refusing to build real career pathways for U.S. citizens.
Some employers say they “can’t find” accountants, technicians, supervisors, or managers, yet they do not consistently post openings where U.S. citizens can apply or provide proof of genuine local recruitment. Before any company’s situation is used as proof that we must extend CW permits, we should require a simple standard: Show the recruitment pipeline, the job ads, wage rates, training plan, interviews, and hires. If recruitment is weak or wages are too low to live on, that is not a labor shortage. It is a poor planning and pay problem and extending CW permits only rewards it.
It is also important to recognize this: many CW workers already have lawful pathways to remain in our community through existing USCIS processes, including the opportunity to pursue permanent residency (a green card) and, if they qualify, U.S. citizenship. The long-term answer should not be endless CW extensions. It should be an orderly approach that uses the legal immigration system where appropriate, while protecting job opportunities and wage growth for U.S. citizens in the CNMI. We must reject any model that depends on a permanently “temporary” workforce with limited mobility and low wages, because it starts to look like modern indentured labor, not a fair U.S. workforce. And we should be honest about the incentives: when some employers push for extensions year after year, it raises a fair concern that their goal is not to develop people into higher-skilled, higher-paid positions, but to preserve a permanently low-wage labor pool. That is not a sustainable nor honorable model for a U.S. Commonwealth.
Rejecting another CW extension puts the CNMI in step with President Trump’s priority of putting American workers first and reaffirms the intent of the CNMI–U.S. Covenant as we mark its 50th anniversary on March 24, 2026, heading into America’s 250th birthday on July 4, 2026. It’s the right moment to cement our U.S.–CNMI partnership by standing on a simple principle: U.S. citizens should not be last in line for jobs in a U.S. Commonwealth.
We should also raise wages in a predictable, responsible way — such as a CNMI $1-per-hour minimum wage increase each year through December 31, 2029, when CW ends. This phased, transparent plan gives employers time to adapt while signaling that the CNMI values work and careers. Higher wages — paired with training and real recruitment enforcement, will keep U.S. citizens in the workforce, reduce turnover, and strengthen our economy. We have smart business owners in the CNMI, and they can adjust, improve productivity, and hire U.S. citizens if we set a clear timeline and hold everyone to the same U.S. citizen–first standard.
Sincerely,
GARY SWORD
Papago, Saipan
