Fitial is scheduled to testify on May 19 before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife regarding the U.S. P.L. 110-229 or the Consolidated and Natural Resources Act.
He has sued the federal government to prevent the law’s implementation.
“I plan to emphasize our concerns with the implementation of this law and its effects on all parts of our community — existing businesses, potential new investors, foreign workers, and local residents. I am going to detail our concerns with the visa waiver regulations and the readiness of the Department of Homeland Security to implement the law on November 28 of this year,” he said in a statement released before he departed for the nation’s capital.
The federalization law was signed on May 8, 2008 but its implementation was mandated to take effect on June 1, 2009.
But Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano delayed the implementation by 180 days.
The new implementation date is Nov. 28.
One more year
But the governor said the 180-day delay is still not enough and he will ask for another 12-month extension.
He said the extension should enable Homeland Security to revise its Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver Program regulations so that Russia and China can be included.
Fitial said the Homeland Security is underestimating the damage to the CNMI’s economy if tourists from Russia and China will be required to get a U.S. visa before they can visit the Northern Marianas.
The economic analysis of the department is “seriously flawed,” he added.
Homeland Security told the U.S. Congress in January that it needed $97 million to take over the CNMI immigration system,
“This was 10 times larger than what the department told Congress in 2007 when the legislation was under consideration. We do not know whether the new [Obama] administration agrees with this estimate. We are asking the subcommittee to find out,” Fitial said.
“Our local immigration laws are completely preempted as of Nov. 28. If the federal government is not fully prepared by this date, it presents a serious national security risk for the people of the commonwealth and the United States,” he added.
Fitial said the CNMI and the subcommittee should be advised if Homeland Security’s budget includes funding for facilities and personnel in the Northern Marianas.
“If the federal government cannot put in place facilities and personnel that can track each person entering and leaving the commonwealth — which the CNMI is currently equipped to do and the federal authorities have never been able to do — the effective date of the law should be extended until they have this capability,” he said.
The governor said he will ask Congressman Gregorio C. Sablan to support the administration’s request.
“I am confident that with the support of the other witnesses at the hearing — and with the support of Congressman Sablan — we will be able to secure this extension of the effective date,” the governor said.
