AT the general membership meeting of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, its president, Joe Guerrero, called for “all hands on deck” to support U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan’s H.R. 1420 which proposes “to modify the requirement to remain outside the United States for Commonwealth Only Transitional Workers.” This is the so-called “touchback” rule.
Guerrero and other chamber officials participated in a panel discussion ahead of a planned “door-knocking trip” to Washington, D.C. to meet with U.S. lawmakers who are anticipated to oppose Kilili’s bill.
The “touchback” provision of the NMI U.S Workforce Act of 2018 requires employers to send CW-1 visa holders back to their home country every three years. The CW-1 employee is then required to remain outside the United States for a minimum of 30 days.
At Wednesday’s chamber meeting, Frank Ada, vice president of the Society for Human Resource Management-CNMI chapter, expressed his skepticism over the Commonwealth’s ability to retain workers once they leave, saying that those who return to their home country could find work elsewhere.
“Companies are preparing for the worst,” Ada said.
Economist Matthew Deleon Guerrero noted that the rise in the number of CW employees correlated with a rise in the number of U.S. citizens in the workforce.
“Economic recovery is [also] going to require more workers than we have at present,” Deleon Guerrero said.
Chamber Director Alex Sablan agreed, saying: “We need to have a CW workforce in order to have…a good, robust U.S. workforce number. That balancing act is the reason why we need to go to D.C. to have such discussions.”
In February, Gov. Arnold I. Palacios appeared before the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and asked U.S. lawmakers to consider amending the NMI U.S. Workforce Act by repealing the “touchback” provision, among other requests.
Palacios said, “A large proportion of workers will be required to depart all at the same time without a clear timeline for their return, and at a time when businesses are attempting to regain normalcy in operations. The touchback provision’s disruptions to families, businesses, and the overall economy cannot be overstated.”
From left, Joshua Wise, Saipan Chamber of Commerce vice president; Joe Guerrero, chamber president; Ron Smith, chamber director; Frank Ada, vice president of the Society for Human Resource Management-CNMI chapter; Matt Deleon Guerrero, economist; and Alex Sablan, chamber director during a panel discussion on Wednesday at the Hyatt ballroom.
