“These are the consequences of that lawsuit — the feds are not sharing information with us [regarding the implementation of federalization law in June]. They’re just telling us what they will do to us.”
Press Secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. disagrees.
“That notion is a myth and a misconception,” he said in an e-mail yesterday. “The…lawsuit goes to the root of the problem — the law itself rather than just the regulations to implement the law. The federal officials charged with implementing the regulations have very little discretion. They must follow the federal law, which contains economically damaging provisions for the CNMI. The lawsuit does not speak so much to the regs but to the law guiding the regs. The Legislature cannot legitimately blame the governor for the adverse economic consequences of federalization, which the lawsuit is intended to remedy, if at all possible. The federal law is damaging, which makes the regs for its implementation also damaging. The…suit attempts to mitigate the damage. They have already shared some of the details of the visa waiver program, which is not encouraging, and they may not have all of the details worked out yet, because this is a major new undertaking for the” Department of Homeland Security.
Palacios, R-Saipan, said he hopes that Congressional Delegate Gregorio C. Sablan, Ind.-MP, “could articulate our concerns to the U.S. Congress. The governor can’t because he sued the feds.”
In a separate interview, Senate President Pete P. Reyes, R-Saipan, described the federalization law as a “poorly drafted, very inhumane” piece of legislation.
“It has no consideration whatsoever for [the immediate relatives of the Freely Associated State citizens], CNMI permanent residents or our long-term [nonresident] businesspersons,” he said. “It will separate families and shut down businesses.”
The Senate president said federalization’s “adverse effects are already being felt — companies are packing up and closing down. They’re here despite the economic slump, but now, because of federalization, they have to move out. It doesn’t make sense.”
He added, “Guest workers who didn’t believe the CNMI government’s contention that they would have to be phased out under federalization are now realizing the truth.”
Like Palacios, the Senate president is hoping that Sablan “could impress upon Congress that there’s a need to amend [the federalization law]. We’re not saying we want to overturn it, but we should be allowed to govern ourselves and have labor rules based on our needs.”
He said the arguments made by the governor’s lawsuit “have merits.”
“I don’t support [the filing of the lawsuit], but I do believe that we should retain control over labor policies,” he added.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the governor’s lawsuit, which was filed in the Washington, D.C. federal court, should be dismissed because the Covenant allows the U.S. Congress to extend federal immigration law to the CNMI.
