He said the federal government is trying to avoid the self-government guaranteed by the Covenant to the CNMI.
The Covenant, which was ratified by local voters and enacted into law by the federal government, made the islands part of the U.S.
Rasa and his group, CNMI Descents for Self-Government and Indigenous Rights, have filed a motion, as friend of the court, to join the governor’s lawsuit against the federalization.
The group has asked the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. to deny the motion filed by federal government, which wants the governor’s lawsuit dismissed.
The Covenant allows the U.S. Congress to extend federal immigration law to the islands.
But Rasa said the federalization law will cause economic hardships in the CNMI.
But federal government said this claim is speculative.
Rasa said the federal government assumes that the CNMI is claiming only economic harm.
“The injury is not primarily economic in character, but rather constitutional,” Rasa said.
“It is the infringement on, and deprivation of, the CNMI’s Covenant-guaranteed right of self-government that is the immediate and primary injury, not any economic harm that may ultimately result from that deprivation,” he added.
The federalization law, Rasa said, “directly and presently removes from the CNMI the power to wield vital tools necessary to prevent the economic hardship from occurring, or to respond effectively when it occurs.”
