He said everything remains fluid at this time as they continue to gather fact-based data.
Babauta met yesterday with Federal Labor Ombudsman Pamela Brown whose office recently conducted an accounting of documented foreign workers in the CNMI.
Close to 20,000 individuals, including their immediate relatives, are believed to have registered with the ombudsman.
In previous legislation presented to the U.S. Congress, a long-term guest worker was defined as someone who had continuously worked for at least five years in the CNMI.
With the new statistics gathered, the definition may be redefined.
“We have a deadline with the new law that extended federal immigration law to the Northern Marianas and we will meet that,” Babauta told reporters.
“We’ll do our diligence in terms of making the recommendations to Congress that we need to,” he added.
U.S. P.L. 110-229, which implemented federal immigration law in the CNMI on Nov. 28, 2009, requires Interior to consult with the Department of Homeland Security and the commonwealth governor and submit a recommendation on the fate of long-term guest workers in the CNMI by May 10, 2010.
Babauta said his meeting with Brown “went well.”
He said there were things discussed concerning certain statistical data that could not be publicly disclosed at this time.
“That’s something that’s internal right now,” said Babauta.
As of last year, the CNMI government said there were 16,000 documented foreign workers in the commonwealth.
This number is believed to have fallen to just over 13,000 this year due to the worsening economy.
All CNMI-issued labor or entry permits are valid only until Nov. 27, 2011.
