He said there are different ways to get the bill passed by the U.S. Congress.
The federalization and minimum wage hike laws were lumped with other more pressing measures to ensure their passage.
“There are different ways to do this. We can’t do it like they do here where they hold back to back sessions and they pass it overnight,” said Sablan.
He said he is currently in discussion with other U.S. lawmakers regarding his federalization delay bill, H.R. 3647.
“Not all of them are in agreement with me but it opened up a whole new level of communication and cooperation that we’ve never had before and this is good for us,” the congressman added.
He reiterated that he is not convinced that the Department of Homeland Security is ready to take over local immigration.
“They don’t even have a space at the airport,” he said.
He added, however, that the federalization law is good for the CNMI in the long-term if done properly and at the right time.
Sablan also introduced H.R. 3658 which seeks to make technical corrections to the federalization law to benefit immediate relatives of U.S. citizens on the islands, among other provisions.
