He was actually hoping that the regulations would be out this week “but it’s more likely next week.”
The Department of Homeland Security is expected to send a team to conduct an outreach information campaign on Tinian, Rota and Saipan.
Asked what employers have to prepare for, Sablan said, “let’s wait for the regulations to be issued.” But he said employers need to determine how many guest workers they still need.
He said once the regulations are out, there will be ample time for everybody to process their applications.
The applications for the transitional worker’s CW visa, Sablan said, will have to be submitted to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service office here, which will conduct a background check on every applicant.
Sablan said one of the things that need to be addressed is the plight of the elderly and other people who are in dire need of continuous healthcare.
The CNMI, he added, has no nursing home for its senior citizens so their families have to hire caretakers in their homes.
But unlike nonresident nurses, many caretakers here may not be eligible for a CW visa, Sablan added.
“That is why I’m pleading with DHS to include caretakers under CW regulations because initially they have no plans to. I am very hopeful and I pray that they will because caretakers are very important to some of the families in the CNMI,” Sablan said.
Sablan said he knows a single parent who has to work and at the same time take care of her small children. “They are those who really need help.
This is one issue that I have been asking DHS to look into,” he added.
