Rep. Ray N. Yumul, R-Saipan and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said the Fitial administration’s budget proposal only allotted $5 for the deportation fund program.
P.L. 10-1 established the “Commonwealth Alien Deportation Fund” and all fees pursuant to this law should be strictly used for deportation or repatriation and related purposes concerning foreigners.
The government estimates there are about 16,000 remaining documented foreign workers on the islands. Their number should at least raise $400,000 annually for the deportation fund.
In his veto message regarding the fiscal year 2009 budget bill, Gov. Benigno R. Fitial said the measure, H.B. 16-169, allotted only $4 for the deportation fund program.
“It is unrealistic to assume four dollars is sufficient to implement any actions required under the deportation fund program,” the governor said.
“Subsection (b) requires the lateral transfer of all immigration personnel who are not employed by the federal government when the United States Department of Homeland Security assumes control of our immigration in June 2009. While I support assisting our local immigration officers in securing jobs, the Legislature fails to identify funds to go along with the positions,” he added.
He also noted that appropriations for the immigration section of the Office of the Attorney General remain only through May 2009.
“In essence, to comply with the requirements of this section, the departments within the three branches of our government must first terminate, lay off, or not renew existing employees to accommodate the immigration officers that they accept as transferees. This section is extremely prejudicial to our current employees,” he said.
Yumul said the House came up with the $4 appropriation for the deportation fund after taking out the 10 percent of what the administration earmarked for it —$5.
When asked how much was the actual collections for the deportation fund in previous years, Yumul said the CNMI government collected $2.8 million in 2006. It went down to $1.1 million in 2007 and further fell in 2008, but the figure for this year was unavailable.
Yumul said his committee is not privy to any information relevant to the deportation fund.
The administration could not be immediately reached for comments.
