Fitial, who is scheduled to leave for Washington, D.C. on Feb. 24 to attend numerous meetings, said he asked Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan to sponsor legislation that will amend the federalization law.
He said the proposed amendment “will make it clear that the federal government may take over immigration but not labor.”
He added, “We have a delegate. Kilili. We will give him a proposal and we will ask him to introduce this legislation.”
The governor said although the federalization law is “an immigration statute, somehow they [federal authorities] want to take the labor authority” from the CNMI.
The governor said his administration does not oppose federal control of the local immigration system but the labor system should remain under CNMI control.
He filed a lawsuit against the federalization law in the U.S. District Court of Columbia but it was dismissed by Federal Judge Paul Friedman.
In his ruling, the judge said: “No doubt the CNMI would prefer that federal legislation never affect any matters of local concern, no matter how inextricably intertwined they may be with federal affairs. But it cannot rely on the Covenant to ensure that result.… The fact that the application of federal immigration laws to the CNMI…may have a dramatic impact upon the CNMI’s labor force does not convert an immigration law into a labor law.
It has long been recognized that immigration laws necessarily have a significant impact on labor markets and practices.”
The governor’s lawyers did not file an appeal.
Fitial is hoping that his “fellow” Republicans in the U.S. Congress would consider amending the federalization law.
