HUMAN rights advocate Wendy Doromal says there’s nothing irregular with the federal labor ombudsman’s plan to determine
the number of CNMI guest workers.
She said attorney Steven Woodruff’s statement was “unnecessarily
alarmist in many respects” and “irresponsible.”
Woodruff, she added, should have consulted with the ombudsman
to get a better understanding
of the accounting effort.
“His letter was a vicious, unfounded attack that is sure to cause confusion. If any alien actually does not register because of this letter, then the responsibility of the outcome should fall on Woodruff,” Doromal
said.
“To suggest that the registration
is in any way defective or dangerous is irresponsible,” she added.
Unwise
Rep. Tina Sablan said it would be unwise not to participate in the ombudsman’s registration program “out of fear based solely on a press release issued by one private attorney.”
People owe it to themselves to do their own research and make their own informed decisions as to what will be in their best interests, she added.
Sablan, Ind.-Saipan, said CNMI Department of Labor officials
have publicly stated on several occasions that they are unable to provide accurate data on various issues related to guest workers, including the number of guest workers actually present
in the commonwealth and how long they have been here.
Rabby Syed, United Workers
Movement president, also criticized Woodruff.
The former Senate legal counsel should have discussed the issue with the ombudsman “before coming up with an unproductive
statement,” Syed added.
Federal Labor Ombudsman
Pam Brown, in an e-mail to the Variety, said her office will always maintain strict confidentiality on information gathered from alien workers.
“It will continue to do so during the accounting of the numbers of aliens in the CNMI,” she said.
The federalization law, she added, requires the U.S. Department
of the Interior to provide the total number of aliens, including their status, whether legal or illegal.
Interior will also make a recommendation
to the U.S. Congress
regarding the long-term status of the guest workers.
Doromal said the ombudsman is charged with protecting and assisting the foreign workers.
“I am very pleased that there is such swift progress in accounting
for the alien population.
I urge everyone to register without fear,” she said.
Consistent
Sablan said the ombudsman’s efforts to account for aliens residing in the CNMI are consistent
with the mandates of the federalization law, “and should represent only the beginning of a process that will require extensive
information gathering, cooperation, and consultation prior to the final submittal of the report.”
She urged guest workers to contact directly the ombudsman’s
office or read the federalization law, U.S. P.L. 110-229.
She said it “requires that the report should include the number of aliens residing in the commonwealth, a description
of their legal status, the current and future requirements of the CNMI economy for an alien workforce, and recommendations as to whether or not lawfully permitted guest workers
who are lawfully residing in the CNMI should be allowed to apply for long-term status.”
Brown urged guest workers to call her office at 322-8036, -8038, -8037 or -8033.
“All of my staff is professional and knows the importance of maintaining
confidentiality,” she said.
Wooduff, in a statement, advised guest workers not to register with the ombudsman’s office, particularly
those who have over stayed, unless they have with them their CNMI-issued umbrella permits.
He said the ombudsman’s office is likely to share whatever information
it will gather with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security whose agency, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is empowered
to arrest illegal aliens.
Woodruff said registration with the ombudsman is not mandatory.
