Gulick attended the Strategic Economic Development Committee meeting in the governor’s conference room yesterday.
Reps. Edmund S. Villagomez, Covenant-Saipan, and Raymond S. Palacios, Covenant-Saipan, said they, along with Fitial and Lt. Gov. Eloy S. Inos, asked why USCIS would allow jobless nonresidents to remain on island.
But Press Secretary Angel A. Demapan said Gulick participated in the council meeting to discuss “USCIS matters.”
Most of the information Gulick shared was based on what USCIS had already released to the public, Demapan said.
Demapan said the administration as well as the lawmakers asked Gulick if the federal government could provide the CNMI some funding to accommodate the jobless nonresidents who will stay for another year in the CNMI if granted parole.
According to Demapan, the USCIS official said he was not in a position to respond to it.
Demapan said not all the administration’s questions were answered by Gulick, who could only focus his responses to the processes involved in CW and parole applications.
Demapan said Gulick indicated “that those who will be eligible for the one-year parole are no longer allowed to continue working after Nov. 27.”
The administration was told these people may apply for employment authorization, but Demapan quoted Gulick as saying the chance of getting an approval to start working may take at least four months.
“This is definitely a concern for the local government as thousands now stand to be allowed to remain in the CNMI without the ability to be legally and gainfully employed for at least four months,” Demapan said.
Palacios said if USCIS will allow jobless nonresidents to stay here for another year, the federal government might as well provide the commonwealth with a Compact-Impact-like funding.
Such funding, he added, will help the CNMI government “carry these burdens.”
Villagomez, for his part, said “it’s nice to know that it’s going to be a case by case basis,” referring to the granting of parole.
But the idea of allowing these nonresidents to remain on island up to Dec. 31, 2012 is adding more “unfairness,” he added.
