On that day, the House Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans, and Insular Affairs holds a hearing on the implementation of Public Law 110-229, which extended federal immigration law to the Northern Marianas.
“I asked Chairman John Fleming to schedule the hearing when he took over the subcommittee in January,” Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan said. “I appreciate his understanding of the importance of this issue to the economy and well-being of the commonwealth.”
He added, “Homeland Security was a no-show at a similar hearing last year, but this time around the department will be there to answer questions about the long delay in issuing regulations on foreign workers in the CNMI.”
Sablan said the subcommittee, of which he is the ranking member, will also want to know what DHS is doing to ensure that implementation of immigration helps, not hinders CNMI economic growth as P.L. 110-229 requires.
According to Sablan, “My bill, H.R. 1466, which respects the status of those granted permanent resident visas under CNMI law, allows those born in the Marianas between 1974 and 1978 to continue living where they were raised, and keeps families with U.S. citizens together through this transition period, will also be on the agenda.”
The hearing will be webcast at http://naturalresources.house.gov/live, beginning at midnight on July 14 in the CNMI.
The congressional office in Susupe, Saipan will be open for anyone who wants to view proceedings there.
