Irene Tantiado, Coalition of United Workers (NMI) president, said the parents group is now in the process of drafting their petition that will be submitted to the federal government.
The parents met with human rights advocate Wendy Doromal and coalition officials on Wednesday to discuss the U.S. citizen children with disabilities whose nonresidents parents were not able to get renewal of their contract.
Tantiado said the parents will also ask the CNMI government to allow them to stay here despite their expired contracts for humanitarian reasons.
“Most of those parents are facing non-renewal of their contracts. They will be forced to go home with or without their children,” Tantiado said.
The parents have no assurance to get the benefits their children are getting in the commonwealth once they are in the Philippines, she added.
Most of the parents whose contracts were not renewed were given temporary working authorization by the Department of Labor, she said.
Doromal said as U.S. citizens, the children are entitled to the benefits and health programs provided by the U.S. government.
She said their parents should not be “exiled” but should be given an opportunity to seek new employment in the CNMI.
Tantiado said they will ask the CNMI Descents for Self Government and Indigenous Rights to ask the Fitial administration to consider the concerns of the parents.
The indigenous group earlier said that the federal government should “carefully consider” the case of nonresident parents of U.S. citizen children with disabilities.
