Gov. Benigno R. Fitial signed House Bill 16-44, titled, “To amend the definition of “alien” under Titles 3 & 4 of the Commonwealth Code,” and is now Public Law 16-5.
House Minority Leader Oscar M. Babauta, Covenant-Saipan, Reps. Edwin P. Aldan, Covenant-Tinian, Raymond D. Palacios, Covenant-Saipan, and Justo S. Quitugua, D-Saipan, sponsored the bill which was passed by the Legislature in April.
The new law updates the definition of “alien” taking into consideration the dissolution of the United Nations Trust Territories of the Pacific administered by the U.S.
The measure came after the local court approved the deportation of Douglas Amaichy Phillip, a citizen of the Federated States of Micronesia, who was convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon in 2002.
“The Legislature…finds that the current definition of the term is ambiguous because of references to the Trust Territory and has resulted in time-consuming litigation. See, e.g., Office of the Attorney General v. Phillip…. The statutory definition of the term ‘alien’ in both the Commonwealth Entry and Deportation Act and in Title 4, Division 5, Chapter 9, Regulation of Foreign Investment, should be brought in line with the law of the United States, Article II of the Covenant and the current state of political affairs,” P.L. 16-5 stated.
“Alien means any person who is not a citizen of national of the United States, or not a permanent resident of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands pursuant to 3 CMC § 4202,” it added.
Phillip challenged the trial court’s ruling in the CNMI Supreme Court.
Phillip’s lawyer argued that he should not be deported because he was not an “alien” under commonwealth law regulating foreign investment.
But Chief Justice Miguel S. Demapan, Associate Justice Alexandro C. Castro and Justice Pro Tem Jesus C. Borja, agreed with the lower court’s decision.
“The language of commonwealth law on this issue, combined with federal interpretation of the term ‘alien’ and the commonwealth Legislature’s silence on this matter, lead us to conclude that Phillip is an alien for deportation purposes,” the justices said in their seven-page slip opinion issued on Jan. 30, 2008.
The Trust Territories were the former Japanese possessions in Micronesia — Northern Marianas, Palau, the Marshall Islands and what is now known as the FSM.
The Northern Marianas became a U.S. commonwealth in 1976 while the rest of the Trust Territories became independent nations “freely associated” with America.
The justices said while it is true that the Compact of Free Association allows the Freely Associated States to travel, work and study anywhere to the U.S., including the CNMI, it does not protect them from deportation if found guilty of violating laws.
