Fitial: No hope for jobless aliens

MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2011 12:00AM BY EMMANUEL T. EREDIANO - REPORTER FROM MARIANAS VARIETY

THE federalization of local immigration has made it worse for nonresidents especially the jobless who have now become “overstayers,”Gov. Benigno R. Fitial said on Friday.

“You and I know what is really happening. A lot of nonresidents are not working because they don’t have jobs,” he told reporters. “They are here because they still believe that there is still hope at the end of the tunnel,” he added referring to the nonresidents’ plea for improved status.

He said his administration has tried to tell nonresidents from the very beginning that it’s not going to happen.

“But nobody wants to believe me,” he added. “They are stubborn because they believe in someone. They should believe in something that is right, not in someone.” He did not say who that “someone” is.

The U.S. Congress, where lawmakers are “fighting over 12 million [illegal aliens] in the states, “is not stupid to entertain a few thousand [aliens in the CNMI],” he added.

“But I don’t blame them. Now, we have a lot of not only illegal overstayers but also unemployed overstayers,” he said.

He said his administration has the “numbers,” but these do not include those who came here pregnant.

“A lot of these people came in pregnant, just to deliver babies and become immediate relatives — we don’t know them. But we know they exist because they produce babies,” he added.

The governor said he continues to urge U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to start going after overstayers in the CNMI.

He said he asked ICE, “what is this policy that you cannot enforce on overstayers?”

Asked if he agrees with Lt. Gov. Eloy S. Inos who wants to give jobless aliens a 60-day grace period after the expiration of their umbrella permits on Nov. 27, Fitial said a lot of them have already been going home or preparing to go home because “they themselves know that they can’t have it.”

Visiting U.S. Interior Assistant Secretary Tony Babauta said beyond the report they were mandated by the federalization law to submit, they have sent no other communication to the U.S. Congress regarding the nonresidents in the CNMI.

Interior recommended improved status for qualified nonresidents, but no such bill has been introduced in the U.S. Congress.

Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan introduced H.R. 1466, but it grants CNMI-status only to certain nonresidents.

In related news, Fitial said his administration will come up this month with a directive that will allow U.S. citizens to continue hiring their caregivers.

He said the federal government has agreed to such an idea to address “one of those Johnny-come-lately issues” that was raised prior to the release of the transitional worker rule.

The governor said he has asked the Legislature for other suggestions regarding his proposed directive.

Fitial admitted he is also affected by the issue because he needs caregivers.

“I used to have two but now, I only have one,” he added.

Petition for 'green cards' begins

Petition for 'green cards' begins

Ahead of federal decision on immigration status of guest workers

Monday, November 16, 2009
By Haidee V. Eugenio

A petition seeking “green cards” or lawful permanent resident status for foreign workers and others with relatives who are U.S. or Freely Associated States citizens has started circulating ahead of the May 10, 2010, deadline for Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to recommend to Congress whether a grant of permanent immigration status to nonresidents in the CNMI is necessary.

The Coalition of United Workers-NMI started circulating the petition on Nov. 9 but temporarily halted it to prioritize the issue of securing umbrella permits for “overstayers,” its president, Rene Reyes, said yesterday.

Reyes said they will resume the signature drive later this week.

Florida-based human rights activist and former Rota teacher Wendy Doromal started the online petition on Saturday, and expects to gather at least 5,000 signatures by January 2010.

“This is our last major push before the May 10, 2010, recommendation from the secretary of Interior to Congress regarding granting United States citizenship or some other permanent legal status to the nonresidents,” Doromal told Saipan Tribune when asked for comment.

The petition is addressed to President Obama, members of the U.S. Congress, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

As of 4pm Sunday, the online petition has gathered 69 signatures.

Ronnie Doca, board chairman of the United Workers Movement-NMI, said yesterday they will begin the signature drive on Tuesday, 6pm, at the Fiesta Pilipino by Juvy restaurant across the road from Saipan Grand Hotel in Susupe.

Doromal and the two organizations of foreign workers in the CNMI are using the same petition form.

CNRA requirement

The federal government will take over CNMI immigration on Nov. 28 pursuant to Public Law 110-229 or the Consolidated Natural Resources Act, signed by President George W. Bush on May 8, 2008.

The CNRA requires the Interior secretary, in consultation with the Homeland Security secretary and the governor of the CNMI, to recommend to the U.S. Congress, as the secretary deems appropriate, a permanent immigration status to guest workers legally residing in the CNMI, by May 10, 2010.

Also included in the Interior's report are the numbers of aliens residing in the CNMI, a description of their legal status under federal law, the number of years each alien has been residing in the CNMI, and the current and future requirements of the local economy for an alien workforce.

Improved status

Over the last three years, Doromal has hand-delivered petitions and letters to the U.S. Congress and offices in Washington, D.C., seeking improved status for many in the CNMI.

The quest for improved immigration status, as the petition reads, is for foreign contract workers, CNMI permanent residents and their nonresident spouses, FAS citizens and their nonresident spouses and family members, nonresidents who are married to U.S. citizens, widows and widowers of U.S. citizens, U.S. citizen children of nonresidents, foreign-born children of U.S. citizens and nonresidents, and parents of disabled and special needs U.S. citizen children.

The FAS includes Palau, the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia (Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae).

Doromal said she and her daughter Nani will personally deliver written letters and the written petition that is circulating in the CNMI to Congress and offices in Washington, D.C. at the end of January after Congress is back in session.

“I will submit the online petition when we reach or surpass our goal,” she added.

Doromal said she has notified friends at non-profit organizations that support human rights, social justice, and immigration reform to appeal for nationwide support.

“Some of my friends are writing stories to post on major progressive Web sites, and we are creating a Facebook page. I am also reaching out to the media to appeal for support,” she added.

Pathway to US citizenship

Doromal said some people mistakenly assume that it is only the nonresidents who support status for the residents of the CNMI.

“This is not true. Millions of Americans believe that all guest worker programs should provide a pathway to citizenship. I put the petition online so that people from across the United States can sign it. The U.S. officials that the petition seeks to influence will see that the support comes not just from the people in the CNMI, but from coast to coast across our nation. The petition has only been up for about five hours and we have people signing from not just the CNMI, but from Florida, Virginia, Georgia, New York, Missouri, Tennessee, South Carolina, Texas, California, Oregon, and Connecticut,” she said.

The online petition is posted on Doromal's blog, “Unheard No More,” at http://unheardnomore.blogspot.com.

“We support the nonresidents of the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in their quest for green cards and a pathway to citizenship as expressed in this petition. We appeal to you to take immediate action to secure their standing and to keep their families together,” the petition's introductory paragraph reads.

The federalization law establishes a goal of phasing out the CNMI guest worker program and requires a report from the Department of the Interior as to the number of guest workers in the CNMI, and recommendations for status, if any.

“There is no assurance that there will be recommendations for status, nor any assurance that status would be granted through subsequent legislation even if such recommendations were made. We appeal to you today to support the introduction of legislation that would grant green cards and a pathway to citizenship to long-term foreign workers and nonresidents,” the petitioners say.

Majority of foreign workers-now only at a little over 10,000-have been in the CNMI for more

“Many of us have children who serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. We are valuable workers and law-abiding, contributing members of our island home. We call upon you to provide protection and equal rights to those of us who have dedicated our lives to building and developing this great U.S. commonwealth,” the petition reads.

In 2000, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed legislation that would have provided these segments of the CNMI population with immigration status.

However, a provision for U.S. status did not make it into the final version of the bill that would become part of Public Law 110-229 or the CNRA.

“While we understand that permanent status and a pathway to citizenship for us in the CNMI may be included in future national comprehensive immigration reform legislation, we plead with you not to wait,” it adds.

The petition cited a precedent for such a relief. In the 1980s, the Virgin Islands and the U.S. Congress realized that special legislation was needed to prevent the separation of guest workers from their U.S. citizen families. Congress passed a law allowing guest workers in the Virgin Islands to adjust to permanent residency status.

“Congress should pass a similar law tailored to the unique needs of the CNMI,” the petitioners say.

Doromal said foreigners invited to U.S. shores to work and build the economy “should be regarded as future citizens rather than replaceable commodities.”

“Those who support a just and democratic guest worker program in the CNMI and in the mainland, support opportunities where foreign workers and immigrants have control over their destiny and the destiny of their families. They embrace the words of President Barack Obama: 'In America, no dream is beyond your grasp if you reach for it, and fight for it, and work for it,'” she added.

CNMI asks court to declare DHS regulations invalid

CNMI asks court to declare DHS regulations invalid

Thursday, November 05, 2009

By Ferdie de la Torre
Reporter

The CNMI has asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to declare as invalid the Department of Homeland Security's interim final rule on the CNMI transitional worker program.

The CNMI, through the Jenner & Block law firm, asked the court to rule that the manner with which DHS promulgated the interim permit rule violates the Administrative Act.

Jenner & Block stressed that the “societal, familiar, and personal damage” that will be caused by Public Law 110-229, the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 (federalization law), “is as severe as its economic impact.” The law firm said the law will force thousands of U.S. citizen children to separate from their parents who are not U.S. citizens.

In the CNMI's amended complained filed on Nov. 2, Jenner & Block also questioned the legality of the interim final rule.

The complaint, which named the United States, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, DHS, U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, and U.S. Labor as defendants-also asked the court to prevent these defendants from acting in violation of the Covenant.

The CNMI wants the court to issue a permanent injunction prohibiting the defendants from enforcing federalization in the CNMI.

The law firm asserted that the defendants violated APA by promulgating the regulations required by Public Law 110-229 without notice to the CNMI and other affected stakeholders and giving them an opportunity to comment.

DHS issued the interim rule on Oct. 27. It is set to go into effect on Nov. 28, 2009, the effective date of the CNRA.

Jenner & Block said the CNRA will strike a devastating, and perhaps fatal, blow on the economy by prohibiting the Commonwealth from ensuring an adequate supply of labor for local residents and businesses.

The law firm said CNRA imposes an uncertain permitting system for an indefinite period of time on about two-thirds of the Commonwealth's private sector workforce and requires that the number of Commonwealth-only permits be reduced to zero by the end of 2014, the end date for the transition period.

“As the number of Commonwealth-only permits is reduced, foreign workers lawfully admitted under CNMI law will have to leave the Commonwealth if they are unable to obtain a visa under the narrow and specialized classifications of the federal immigration laws or if their employers cannot obtain the necessary permits from that steadily shrinking pool of permits,” the law firm said.

Jenner & Block said most of the foreign workers will not be able to qualify for federal visas because existing federal immigration laws do not allow visas for low-skill jobs that are “permanent” rather than “temporary.”

“In addition, because no 'Commonwealth-only' permits can be issued or can authorize employment after 2014, whatever relief is potentially available during the transition period is necessarily temporary,” the law firm said.

The law firm pointed out that the local workforce is not enough to compensate for the labor deficit the CNRA will create.

The overall U.S. citizen population of about 30,000 and the U.S. citizen workforce of about 11,000 have remained constant in size for most of the past decade.

“There is no reasonable basis for assuming that the U.S. citizen population can produce a workforce of sufficient size to meet the needs of the CNMI economy,” the law firm said.

The CNRA, Jenner & Block said, has placed the CNMI in a legal and economic limbo of indefinite duration.

“Such an environment is toxic to economic development,” the law firm said, citing business plans for new ventures that are already being revised or canceled, foreign investment being withdrawn, among other things.

“No other city, county, or state in America has a federal bureaucracy exercising plenary authority over two-thirds of its private sector labor force,” the law firm stressed.

In addition, the CNRA will also rend its social fabric, the law firm said.

The 24,000 alien workers and their families make up roughly 40 percent of the Commonwealth's total population. Jenner & Block said many of these people have lived in the CNMI for over a decade and include thousands of U.S. citizen children.

Under the provisions of CNRA, the complaint said, these children's parents are subject to expulsion from the Commonwealth over the next several years, even if they otherwise could have remained gainfully employed in the CNMI.

When required to leave, the law firm said, these parents will be forced to either separate from their children and find another home for them in the CNMI, or to take these U.S. citizen children away from their home country and the opportunities and benefits of growing up in the U.S.

Jenner & Block said the challenged provisions of CNRA abrogate the CNMI's right of local self-government by denying the Commonwealth the right to regulate its local workforce and economy.

Hundreds attend federalization forum

Hundreds attend federalization forum

Re-entry to NMI tops concerns of alien workers

Monday, November 02, 2009

By Ferdie de la Torre
Reporter

Hundreds of alien workers of different nationalities showed up at a public forum on the Department of Homeland Security's interim final rule on the CNMI transitional worker program, held Friday night at the American Memorial Park.

Janna Evans, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services community outreach regional lead, kicked off the forum with a PowerPoint presentation on the interim final rule. David G. Gulik, district director of the USCIS for Hawaii, Guam and the CNMI, answered questions from the audience.

After the forum, Evans and Gulik responded to individual queries, as many workers milled around them on the stage, asking more questions and sharing their personal experiences and problems in obtaining U.S. visas, among other issues.

Majority of concerns raised is the difficulty of getting visas from U.S. embassies or consulates in their home countries and questions about re-entering the CNMI using a B1 or B2 visa (tourist visa). Evans noted that the issue was asked six times in six different ways.

“If you have a CNMI umbrella permit and B1/B2 visa and you leave and you go somewhere-anywhere, any country in the world-and you want to come back to the CNMI to resume your life and your work, you must have a valid visa,” Evans said.

A B1 or B2 visa, she said, does not allow the holder to work.

Evans said if the alien worker knows that he or she is going to leave the CNMI, he or she needs to work with the employer to get a CW1 status (CNMI-only transitional worker).

“If you know you're not going to leave for two years, no problem,” Evans said, adding that the CNMI-issued two-year “umbrella permits” will cover them.

She stressed that it is very important for alien workers who have a CW1 visa and want to leave the CNMI to get a CW1 visa from the U.S. embassy or U.S. consulate in their respective countries so that they can return and work in the CNMI.

“The B1/B2 [visa] will not put you in lawful status to work,” Evans said.

Gulik explained to workers that visas are issued only outside the U.S.

“A visa is not a status. A visa is a permit to allow you to come to the U.S.,” Gulik said.

Even if a CWI status is already given to a worker in the CNMI, it is not a guarantee that the U.S. embassy in the worker's country will issue a CW1 visa in order for him or her to come back to work, he added.

“We hope that the State Department will give a lot of faith to the fact that we gave you a CW1,” Gulik said.

If a worker uses a B1/B2 visa to come back to the CNMI to resume his or her work, the worker will be violating the law because he or she is entering as a tourist, he said.

“When you come back to the CNMI, you should show what are you are going to do here. We don't want you to be in trouble,” he said.

Rabby Syed, president of the United Workers Movement Inc., said the forum was very informative and educational as people had lots of questions.

Just like in other forums about the interim final rule, the main concern was about the workers going to their country of origin and the need to have a U.S. visa in coming back, Syed said.

“And that is very hard [to get],” Syed said.

He said DHS should come up with some sort of remedy.

“Maybe they can issue a visa from here based on that CW1 so that the workers can easily go to their country for a short vacation and come back,” he said.

Syed said their group would be holding a meeting to discuss the interim final rule.

Fil Taga president Mike Cruz said that, although the forum was informative, there are still a lot of areas that need further discussion, particularly on the question of Immediate Relative status and the B1/B2 visa.