He emphasized again that the program is voluntary and is aimed at providing as much security as possible for those foreign workers who wish to remain in the CNMI.
He wants every eligible foreign worker who wishes to have a two-year “umbrella” permit to be covered before Nov. 27.
On Saturday, Fitial was notified by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that the CNMI transitional workers interim final rule will be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, Oct. 27, and will be on public display on Monday, Oct. 26.
“We look forward to reviewing the proposed ‘interim final rule’ on the CNMI transitional workers permitting system that the Department of Homeland Security has announced. These regulations are necessarily limited by U.S. Public Law 110-229,” Fitial said.
The federalization law, U.S.P.L. 110-229, specifically provides: “[an] alien who is lawfully present in the commonwealth pursuant to the immigration laws of the commonwealth on the transition program effective date shall not be removed from the United States on the grounds that such alien’s presence in the commonwealth is in violation of section 212(a)(6)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.1182(a)(6)(A)), until the earlier of the date — (i) of the completion of the period of the alien’s admission under the immigration laws of the commonwealth; or (ii) two years after the transition program effective date.”
The commonwealth-issued umbrella permits extend the period of an alien’s admission under the immigration laws of the CNMI.
Commonwealth law governs the terms on which an alien is admitted to the CNMI and the “period of admission,” which is how long an alien may stay after entry into the islands.
The Immigration Division is responsible for the functions of entry into the commonwealth while the Labor Department deals with labor permits which govern the “period of admission” for foreign workers.
The umbrella permit program is designed to deal with the inevitable uncertainties that will be presented by any federal employer work permitting system.
For example, the permits to be issued under the federal CNMI transitional workers program are issued to the employers — not to workers as is the case under the commonwealth’s two-year transition permit program.
It will be up to employers to seek permits for those jobs which qualify under the federal standards to be filled by foreign workers after U.S. workers get first priority.
In addition, the number of federal permits issued under the law will have to be reduced over time.
The governor said: “I regret the delay in the issuance of these critically important regulations. The Department of Homeland Security has had 16 months to implement this section of the law. The delay has caused uncertainty and unnecessary strain on both employers and employees in the commonwealth. Although I have had the two-year permit program under consideration for a long time, I waited until October to begin issuing the permits in order to take account of any decision from the federal court and also to take account of any regulations that the federal government might issue. Both of these factors cause uncertainties in the commonwealth. But I could wait no longer. Issuing permits to all our foreign workers will take time, and we need to do this job right.”
He added, “The federal government has issued what they call an ‘interim final rule.’ It appears that means they intend to put these regulations into operation on Nov. 28. We think we should have an opportunity to comment on their rules before, not after, they put them into effect. Federal agencies usually provide a minimum of 30 days for comment on proposed rules before they are issued in final form and the federal government starts to act on them. I have asked the attorney general to consider whether this issuance of such an ‘interim final rule’ complies with the federal Administrative Procedure Act.”
