The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has already explained where it stands regarding this document and because CNMI immigration is under federal control, DHS’ announcement is the only one that counts. All issues regarding the hiring of foreigners in the CNMI are now federal matters and only DHS can deport nonresidents.
The CNMI government, to be sure, can throw a hissy fit but it cannot enforce its labor and immigration rules that have been preempted by the relevant provisions of U.S. P.L 110-229 — the law of the land whose validity has been upheld by a federal court in D.C. The CNMI government, in other words, is now acting like a police officer wannabe without a badge, without a gun and without jurisdiction.
The Fitial administration, clearly, cannot move on. But it has to. It’s over. Its continued insistence on an authority it no longer has and cannot enforce is bad for business, literally. It is affecting the operations of companies that are struggling in this horrible economy. Indeed, employers of guest workers fear that they may be harassed by the CNMI government if they ignore its whining.
Happily, the federal regulations are expected to be announced soon, which should, once and for all, end a controversy created by a reactionary administration still living in the past and clinging to a long lost cause.
A failure of nerves
THE NMC board is dragging its feet regarding the controversy over the college president. The board’s chairwoman disagrees, but Carmen Fernandez has been suspended with pay for over two months now and the regents are still asking for “more time” while approving additional compensation for the interim president and hiring a law firm. Surely the regents do not expect the public to remain silent about their perceived extravagance in light of the austerity measures that are being proposed on Capital Hill.
The regents should have foreseen the costs and consequences of suspending Fernandez and investigating the allegations against her. They should have explained all this to the public before they voted to give her a paid vacation. Or they could have simply fired her. It is clear anyway that the president no longer has the confidence of the board’s majority bloc. Her leadership has divided the NMC community and created controversies that are distracting the college from its mission.
Fernandez has to go. She can no longer effectively run an organization where politics has run amuck. She must be replaced. And this early, we are already offering her successor our deepest sympathies for being thrown into the lion’s den.
You get what you ask for
LAST week, House members realized that they couldn’t impose work-hour cuts on NMC and PSS without making a mockery of their commitment to education, and without risking the college’s accreditation and the school system’s federal grants.
But the administration is hell-bent on reducing costs as it sees fit, and its allies run the show at the legislative building. They will find a way to cut work hours, and besides NMC and PSS, DPS and CHC and the other “essential” employees of other agencies will be exempted as was the case when this administration and the Covenant Legislature approved the 2007 austerity measures.
The savings, once again, will not be significant, so the other options for this bankrupt and bloated government are to further reduce its already deplorable services, levy new fees and raise taxes.
The CNMI’s current leaders, in any case, were chosen by the majority of voters last November. Hence, the public should not be surprised with the dismal turn of events on Capital Hill. What did you expect? You preferred more of the same and so you’re getting it. For five more years.
