“It makes sense that guest workers should be allowed to continue to work and stay under the U.S. flag,” he said, reacting to U.S. Pinoys for Good Governance Marianas chapter president Dr. Celia Lamkin, who expressed willingness to assist Filipinos in the CNMI get jobs on Guam.
Syed said the assistance provided by U.S. Pinoys for Good Governance “gave more strength” to many nonresidents.
“This is very inspiring news for the foreign workers here. It gave us hope,” he added.
He noted that USCIS has already announced that it will grant humanitarian parole, on a case by case basis, to immediate relatives of U.S. citizens and CNMI permanent residents.
USCIS should also allow guest workers to seek employment on Guam, he added.
In a recent immigration forum, Lamkin announced to over 100 Filipino workers about her meeting with Guam Lt. Gov. Ray Tenorio, saying they had a discussion about the possibility of hiring Filipino workers through an inter-island agreement.
This will not require nonresident workers in CNMI to “exit” to the Philippines before heading to Guam, she added.
“The response of the lt. governor was positive. He was very supportive and he was very optimistic,” she said.
Lamkin said Tenorio was surprised that many highly skilled Filipino workers do not have work in the CNMI.
However, allowing nonresident workers in the CNMI to gets jobs on Guam is an immigration question that needs to be answered, said U.S immigration lawyer Ted Laguatan, who is also the U.S. Pinoys for Good Governance spokeman.
He said they will request Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to look into the proposal.
