Local
Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Fitial wants unified NMI voice on Interior report

By Haidee V. Eugenio
Reporter

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial's administration said yesterday it is “deeply disappointed” by the U.S. Department of the Interior's lack of proper consultation and its submission of a report to the U.S. Congress on the status of alien workers six hours before local leaders had a chance to see the report's contents for the first time.

The Fitial administration is bent on opposing portions of the report, as well as the recommendation by the Interior of granting long-term status to nonresidents who have legally resided in the CNMI for at least five years.

“It almost appears as if there were ulterior motives behind the advanced submission of the Interior’s recommendations,” press secretary Angel Demapan told Saipan Tribune.

Alien worker groups led by the United Workers Movement-NMI are now working on a strategy of their own to ensure that the U.S. Congress will act swiftly on Interior's recommendations, including granting U.S. citizenship or permanent residency leading to citizenship.

Ronnie Doca, board chairman of the UWM-NMI, invited community members to the strategy session on Saturday at the American Memorial Park, from 2pm to 4pm.

Interior gave five examples of how a long-term status can be granted, including conferring U.S. citizenship by an act of Congress and granting permanent residency leading to U.S. citizenship.

Fitial will meet as early as today with lawmakers, mayors and at least four Cabinet members to come up with a unified CNMI government response to the Interior report and recommendation.

“This meeting is aimed at safeguarding the interests and addressing the potential impact that such recommendations will have on the Commonwealth and the local community. It is the intent of the administration to have the Commonwealth leaders come together in an effort to formulate a unified response and position to the recommendations submitted by DOI,” Demapan said.

Uphill battle in Congress

CNMI Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (D-MP) recognized the anxiety caused by the Interior report. Among other things, he said these are just recommendations to Congress.

Sablan said as the CNMI representative to the U.S. Congress, he is not going to let immigration legislation go through Congress until everyone has a chance to give their opinion.

“And I am not going to let any immigration legislation go through Congress unless I think it represents the will of the majority,” he said.

Secondly, Sablan said “the political reality is that any immigration legislation faces an uphill battle in Congress.”

“Whether you like the recommendations or you don't like them - as President Obama said on Friday-Congress lacks 'the appetite' for immigration legislation this year,” said Sablan, responding to Saipan Tribune questions.

He, however, said that Congress has to have a “very serious and level-headed discussion about the future of foreign workers in the Marianas.”

“We need a labor force for our economy. We need consumers in our economy. Can we really afford to send all 20,000 foreign workers home?” he asked.

Sablan also cited Fitial's statements to the media in December stating that he won't oppose the federal government's granting of “green cards” to alien workers should the federal government decides to do so.

“Well, as you know the governor said months ago that he is not opposed to green cards. And now the Secretary of the Interior is agreeing with the governor on that,” he added.

'Weaknesses'

Sablan said the Interior report has some “serious weaknesses.”

“In many ways its recommendations are just a list of options. So that's not very helpful. Then there is the problem of forecasting how many workers our economy will need in the coming years. Interior interviewed 10 businesses and concluded we would need 15 percent more workers than we have now. That's a pretty weak analysis. Giving all foreign workers green cards-which the governor says is okay-is one end of the spectrum. The other end is to do nothing and let foreign workers be zeroed out,” he said.

The delegate said most people would probably like to see something between those two extreme positions.

“This is why we have a transition period: to allow time for all of these questions to be answered. But we do have to start a serious discussion. The situation calls for some real leadership despite that the issue is messy, difficult, and requires compromise,” he said.

Washington, DC hearing

Demapan said Fitial also “hinted” that he may be attending a hearing in Washington, D.C. on May 18 to be conducted by the U.S. House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife chaired by Guam Delegate Madeleine Z. Bordallo.

Bordallo's subcommittee will hold an oversight hearing on the implementation of the federalization law in the CNMI.

Fitial is likely to use the occasion to present the CNMI government's unified position on the Interior report and recommendation.

Bordallo invited CNMI officials to attend the hearing or submit testimony.

Sablan said he will also try to hold a field hearing in the CNMI-“probably in early 2011 so people have more opportunity to express their feelings.”

Senate President Paul A. Manglona (R-Rota), who was among those invited to the Washington, D.C. hearing, said he would rather submit a testimony which will incorporate the position statement on the Interior report that the CNMI Senate is expected to come up with by next week.

House Speaker Froilan C. Tenorio (Cov-Saipan) said Fitial can submit his own comments to Congress, but his plan of coming up with a unified CNMI government position after meeting with other top officials will be better.

But Tenorio said Interior only did what it was required to do-to submit a report on the status of alien workers by a set deadline.

U.S. Public Law 110-220 or the federalization law gives the Interior until May 10, 2010, to submit the report. It contains data on the alien population in the CNMI, as well as recommendations for long-term status for the alien population.

Interior recommends that thousands of alien workers who have lawfully resided in the CNMI for a minimum of five years be allowed to apply for long-term status under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Tenorio, just like other lawmakers, said he has yet to decide whether to support the Interior recommendations on the status of aliens in the CNMI.

Manglona, for his part, commended the governor for trying to reach out to other leaders to come up with a unified position on the Interior report and recommendation.

He said he also asked all the other senators to carefully read the Interior report so that the Senate can also come up with a position paper as early as next week.

“We may also introduce a resolution on our position,” said Manglona.

House Minority Leader Diego T. Benavente (R-Saipan) said the group will meet today to discuss, among other things, the Interior report.

'Railroaded'

Demapan said the Fitial administration “is deeply disappointed by the lack of consultation and the actions of DOI in submitting the recommendations to Congress six hours before local leaders had a chance to see its contents for the first time.”

Assistant Interior Secretary for Insular Affairs Tony Babauta said that Interior submitted the report to Congress toward the close of business hours on Thursday in Washington, D.C. or about 8am on Saipan on Friday.

At 2pm last Friday, Babauta met with Lt. Gov. Eloy S. Inos and other CNMI officials to personally present copies of the Interior report.

Babauta said Interior had consulted with CNMI officials. He also said the CNMI can submit comments to the Congress.

Demapan said the CNMI was not afforded the opportunity to review a draft report nor offer alternative recommendations that would reflect the concerns of the government and the local community.

“The administration finds it appalling that the process was pretty much railroaded. Moreover, the administration has called into question the supporting data used by DOI to issue such recommendations. It is quite disappointing that the feedback of 10 business entities was used as the basis that would determine the economic future of the CNMI in terms of addressing the fate of alien workers in the Northern Marianas,” he said.

He said in view of Interior's action, Fitial will call for a leadership meeting to include elected leaders such as members of the Legislature and the mayors.

Fitial will also include in the meeting the heads of the Department of Labor, Department of Commerce, the Marianas Visitors Authority, and Office of the Attorney General.

“The governor and lieutenant governor want to ensure that through a meeting of the minds with our islands’ leaders, a comprehensive consensus will be attained in charting how best we can make the concerns of our islands heard in halls of the U.S. Congress,” Demapan said.