“Had anybody contacted Interior to discuss this issue we would be ready, willing and able to do so,” he told Variety.
Press Secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. earlier said that Interior was not prepared to discuss CNMI issues
Before federal immigration law is implemented in the CNMI, there has to be a thorough consultation, Benedetto said.
Benedetto said the federal government is accepting comments regarding the draft regulations from the CNMI government, the chamber of commerce, the Legislature, the nonresident workers group and from other members of the community.
“We are not to be fighting about whether federalization is occurring,” he said. “It is occurring. Now is the time for everybody to sit down and see how we make sure that this is going to work .”
The federal government wants an open door policy, he added, and will consider the recommendations of the CNMI government.
Benedetto also pointed out that it was not the federal government that created a Joint Marianas Immigration Task Force as earlier reported.
He said the task force is composed of CNMI government officials and business leaders who will submit proposals to the federal government.
According to Benedetto, lawyers from the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, Labor and the Interior have indicated that they want inputs from the CNMI government.
“We want to be flexible,” he said. “We want to implement the public law in a way that will be sensitive to the needs of the CNMI economy.”
Within the six-month period from May 8, when President Bush signed U.S. Public Law 110-229, Homeland Security must already have the regulations in place in the CNMI.
