CPA Executive Director Efrain F. Camacho, in an e-mail to the Variety, said they are “in communication” with the federal agency.
“CPA will be meeting with U.S. Custom and Border Protection staff in the near future to iron out the specifics,” he added.
He said CBP requires sufficient “federal inspection services space for immigration processing” on Saipan, Tinian and Rota.
“CPA will be making spaces available within its complexes but the details are not clear at this point in time,” Camacho said.
He added: “U.S. Custom and Border Protection is the only one that can decide what will be needed on each island and to what extend they will be needed. CPA is not responsible for manning customs and or border related functions.”
The Variety sought Camacho’s reaction to the letters of Richard Vigna, CBP director of field operations, San Francisco Field Office, and Sen. Paul Manglona, R-Rota and chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation and Commission.
In his June 16 letter, Vigna informed CPA Chairman Jose R. Lifoifoi regarding preparations for the implementation of the federalization law.
Camacho told Vigna: “CPA will make every effort to satisfy your request. However, this will not be an easy task given the short time frame and the amount of space required.”
Manglona, for his part, informed Camacho that “it is extremely important the islands of Rota and Tinian have a permanent CBP presence…to man and operate their respective ports of entry.”
He said federal funding “might be used for this purpose.”
“I am very much aware of CPA’s precarious financial position, but I sincerely hope that this will not derail efforts” to deploy U.S. CBP officers on the islands of Rota and Tinian,” the senator added.
