'Extend transition period to 2019'

Local
Friday, September 17, 2010


By Haidee V. Eugenio
Reporter

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial has asked a congressional panel to consider extending the transition period related to the federalization of CNMI immigration from the end of 2014 to the end of 2019, and to reinstate a “cover over” tax provision in the Covenant that the federalization law deleted.

The governor cited the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's failure to issue final regulations on foreign workers and foreign investors/foreign students, as well as DHS' failure to develop and enforce “an effective program to identify and remove illegal aliens” in the CNMI as reasons for the need to extend the transition.

These are part of Fitial's 11-page written testimony to the U.S. House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife, which held a Sept. 16 oversight hearing in Washington, D.C. on H.R. 6015.

“Consideration of this amendment seems particularly appropriate because of (a) the delay by DHS in issuing the necessary regulations; and (b) the uncertainty engendered by DHS' legal position as to whether in fact the Secretary of Labor has the authority to extend the transition period,” Fitial said.

HR 6015, introduced by subcommittee chair Delegate Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam), has two major sections, including two proposed technical corrections to the immigration provisions contained in the Consolidated Natural Resources Act that are applicable to the CNMI and Guam.

The CNRA, signed in May 2008, is the law that placed CNMI immigration under federal control on Nov. 28, 2009.

HR 6015 also requires the director of the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis to publish certain economic data on territories and Freely Associated States.

The governor believes that the U.S. Congress intended that an extension of the transition period by the U.S. Labor Secretary would also mean extending the two other programs that CNRA authorizes: numerical limitations on H visas, and CNMI-only nonimmigrant investor visa program.

He said despite frequent requests by the CNMI, DHS has never provided any written opinion in support of its interpretation of the CNRA.

“This Subcommittee may wish to make a similar request of DHS so that the Subcommittee can evaluate the conflicting opinions before it acts on H.R. 6015,” Fitial said.

The governor reiterated the CNMI's frustration with the interim final rule regarding the joint Guam-CNMI visa waiver, and the exclusion of China and Russia from the list of approved countries.

In his written testimony, Fitial also said that DHS has not developed and enforced an effective program to identify and remove illegal aliens in the CNMI.

“The number of illegal aliens in the Commonwealth is expanding rapidly, now that federal controls are in place, for three reasons,” Fitial said.

These reasons include “a perceived lack of enforcement by federal officials leads to illegal aliens to conclude that there is no risk to staying” in the CNMI; “some federal officials have repeatedly suggested that green cards will be available to any alien who is in the Commonwealth when Congress addresses this questions;” and “new federal policies with respect to food stamp assistance and free medical care allow these benefits to be claimed by illegal aliens.”

“Under these circumstances, voluntary repatriation by aliens in the Commonwealth has almost entirely disappeared,” Fitial added.

The governor also asked the Subcommittee to reinstate the “cover over language” in the Covenant that the CNRA eliminated.

“Cover over” refers to the return to local governments of taxes paid to federal agencies by residents of insular areas.

“The effect of this amendment will be to deny the Commonwealth tens of millions of dollars over time-and places the full financial burden of applying the immigration laws on the Commonwealth and its residents rather than assumed by the nation as a whole whose national security was believed to require this congressional action,” he added.

Oversight hearing

The oversight hearing in Washington, D.C. was during the wee hours of this morning Saipan time.

Besides HR 6015, Bordallo's Subcommittee also held an oversight hearing on CNMI Delegate Gregorio Kilili Sablan's HR 4339, which creates the Dr. Rita Hocog Inos Fellowship Act.

Among those scheduled to testify on the two measures were Assistant Interior Secretary for Insular Affairs Tony Babauta, Fitial's legal counsel Howard P. Willens, Guam Visitors Bureau vice chair Lamonte J. “Jim” Beighley, and former CNMI Board of Education member Anthony Pellegrino.

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