The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee is directing the U.S. government to establish a plan to begin denying entry of people from the three north Pacific nations that have a special relationship with Washington allowing visa-free entry to the U.S. The Senate Appropriations Committee also directs the Obama Administration to consider requiring islanders from the FAS to obtain advance approval before they can fly to America or its territories. Currently, a valid passport and a one-way airline ticket is all that is needed for islanders from the three Freely Associated States, or FAS, to enter the U.S. to live, work and study.
But in the past two years, the state of Hawaii has led a campaign to get federal government support to pay for what is says is now well over $115 million in annual costs to provide health care, education, low income housing, and other assistance to migrants from the three island countries.
The new directive is contained in the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Homeland Security FY 2012 budget that was approved on Sept. 7.
The committee is chaired by Hawaii Democratic Sen. Daniel Inouye, who earlier this year put the FAS presidents on notice that he intended to take action to reduce the costs of islanders moving to Hawaii and other areas of the U.S.
The Homeland Security budget directs the U.S. government to set in motion plans to begin denying access to the U.S. by Micronesians, Marshall Islanders and Palauans who do not meet entry requirements of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act. Although the Senate acknowledges that the Compact of Free Association provides certain islanders “may be admitted to, lawfully engage in occupations, and establish residence as a nonimmigrant in the United States and its territories,” it also said that the same law states it is not the intent of Congress to cause any adverse consequences by this grant of visa-free entry.
“The committee is concerned regarding the lack of enforcement of certain grounds of inadmissibility under the Compact such as the health-related and public charge grounds of inadmissibility and deportability,” the directive said. “The committee also is concerned about the growing negative budgetary impacts that the admission as non-immigrants of nationals of the FAS is having on state, local, and federal governments.”
The Senate committee said costs to provide health and other services to FAS citizens by U.S. states and territories are now estimated at over $200 million annually and growing. The Senate also specifically identified the high rate of TB and leprosy among FAS citizens migrating to the U.S. as a major concern to the US government.
“The committee directs (the) Department of Homeland Security to report, within 90 days after the date of enactment of this act, on the secretary’s plan to issue regulations to implement all legally allowable grounds of inadmissibility under the Compact which apply to nationals from the FAS including, but not limited to, a feasibility and cost analysis of establishing a pre-screening process and promulgating regulations pursuant to the appropriate sections of Public Law 108-188, the Compact law, to establish a process, based on the existing Advance Permission to Enter process (I-192), to provide advanced permission for prospective travelers from the FAS to enter the United States,” the committee’s Homeland Security budget bill said.
In its directive to the president, the Appropriations Committee said it recognized that the scope of these health, education and other impacts of FAS citizens moving to the U.S. “will have to be addressed by multiple federal agencies and believes that the administration must develop a comprehensive, interagency approach to reduce the financial burden placed on affected jurisdictions.”
To fix the problem, the legislation “directs the president to convene, within 45 days after the date of enactment of this act, a National Security Council Interagency Policy Committee on Freely Associated State Affairs, with representation from the relevant departments and agencies including the Departments of State, the Interior, Defense, Education, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services, and the US Agency for International Development, to develop an action plan to reduce the impact of FAS migration on federal, state, local, and territorial governments, particularly those in affected jurisdictions.”
The Senate gives the Obama administration six months from passage of the legislation to report back to the Congress on its plan of action. The budget must still be passed by the House of Representatives.
