Feds OK 180-Day Delay

Feds OK 180-day delay
Thursday, 02 April 2009 00:00 By Gemma Q. Casas - Variety News Staff
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U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano ordered to delay until Nov. 28 the mandated June 1st U.S. takeover on the islands’ border security and immigration system giving relief to local officials, employers and some foreign workers who are worried about uncertainties on the transition phase.

Congressman Gregorio C. Sablan, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Richard Barth, and Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo at her office on Capitol Hill. It was Barth who delivered the notification from Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano that she had granted a 180-day delay in the commencement of federal immigration control in the Northern Marianas. Contributed photo

Congressman Gregorio C. Sablan, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Richard Barth, and Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo at her office on Capitol Hill. It was Barth who delivered the notification from Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano that she had granted a 180-day delay in the commencement of federal immigration control in the Northern Marianas. Contributed photo
Marie Thérèse Sebrechts, regional media manager of the department, said Napolitano reached the decision upon consultation with the secretaries of the departments of Labor, Interior and State, the U.S. attorney general and Gov. Benigno R. Fitial.

“As a result of the secretary’s decision the existing CNMI immigration laws will continue to apply until November 28, 2009. Additionally, the implementation of Customs and Border Protection’s interim final rule establishing a joint Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver Program, that was scheduled to begin on June 1, 2009, also will be delayed until Nov. 28, 2009 and the existing Guam VWP will continue to operate until that date,” she said in a statement.

The delay also means the estimated more than 16,000 foreign workers here can still exit and enter the islands using their valid Northern Marianas labor permits within the next six months.

Under the federalization law, once the U.S. administers the islands immigration system international airlines will not board anymore foreign workers bound here unless they have a U.S. visa.

They will also not be allowed to work here unless they have the appropriate U.S. employment visa.

Relieved and thankful

The governor and CNMI Delegate to the U.S. Congress Gregorio Sablan separately asked Napolitano for the delay citing grave economic concerns over the possible negative impact of a hastily administered federal immigration system.

The tourism-based economy of the CNMI is driven by foreign workers whose employment contracts are based on locally-issued labor permits.

Once the DHS takes over the administration of the immigration system here, all foreign workers will be treated as transitional guest workers and must eventually be employed under the soon to be introduced federal guest worker program.

Fitial thanked Napolitano and others who strongly lobbied Washington for the delay.

“Today, I join many people in our community in expressing thanks and gratitude to Janet Napolitano, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, for agreeing to delay the implementation of federal immigration rules for the CNMI,” said the governor in a special press conference held yesterday.

He added that he’s grateful for the federal government and other individuals who strongly lobbied for the delay taking into account the negative impact of the move on the islands’ fragile tourism-based economy.

He also expressed hope the six-month delay will give the CNMI more time to bargain for more rights under the federalization law.

He expressed hope the delay would enable local and federal authorities to ensure the smooth transition phase of handing down the control of the islands’ immigration system to the DHS.

He also stressed the time at hand would enable the CNMI to host more tourists from Russia and China.

“My hope is that this six-month delay will give Homeland Security additional time to put in place the necessary equipment, personnel and systems in the CNMI so that we can continue to welcome Chinese and Russian tourists without a single day of lapse. We have been hosting these tourists for more than a decade without any problems and they are a vital part of our tourism industry,” the governor said.

Sablan, for his part, said he’s glad Napolitano granted their delay request.

“I am glad to finally have the secretary’s decision,” said Sablan in a statement. “We now know with certainty that the transition to federal immigration will begin on Nov. 28, 2009. As I have said before, this is not delay for the sake of delay. The reason to push back the date is so that the Department of Homeland Security has enough reason to do it right.”

Assistant Secretary for Policy Richard Barth delivered Napolitano’s decision to Sablan and Guam Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo.

Time for more talks

Speaker Arnold I. Palacios, R-Saipan, said they expect the six-month period to be marked by continued dialogues between the CNMI and federal officials.

He said local businesses want assurance they will continue to have the labor force they need.

“There are other concerns that were not clear. It appeared that they [federal authorities time] have a final rule already. We have a little concern with that because nobody in the commonwealth made comments on that and so the only way to do this is to delay and make sure that unified requests will be taken into consideration,” the speaker told the Variety.

Rep. Ray N. Yumul, R-Saipan and the chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, said the delay should give local and federal authorities time to further study possible loopholes on the yet to be drafted regulations to ensure the smooth transition phase.

House Floor Leader Joseph N. Camacho, R-Saipan, added, the delay would let stakeholders in the federalization law “iron-out unintended consequences in a mutually agreeable positions.”

He said many people would be affected in the proposed changes like foreign workers, their employers, foreign investors, immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, foreign students and the islands economic future.

Phillip Mendiola-Long, president and chairman of the Tinian Chamber of Commerce, said the DHS made the right decision.

“The chamber frankly did not see it possible to implement P.L. 110-229 in the time frame available because DHS had not completed regulations for the CNMI Transitional Worker Program, they had not completed regulations for existing CNMI foreign investor transitions or created the new foreign investor policy, they had not established regulations for Immediate Relatives and they had not established regulations regarding prevailing wage rates,” he said in an email to the Variety.

“With all of these pending and uncompleted regulatory issues, it would not have been prudent for the federal agency to create policy and regulations in haste just to meet a time deadline,” he added.

Tinian is being developed as a major casino hub in the Pacific. The industry is expected to generate both local and international employment.

Taotao Tano leader Greg Cruz, on the other hand, said the delay will not change things at all as the islands’ immigration system would still be handed down to DHS before the year is over.

“In our view it makes no difference come November, everyone will be right back on the same situation,” he said.

He added: “We continue to address that the entire federal immigration takeover is of national defense but everyone seems to ignore this issue. We are interested in seeing what will happen after the six months. In our view it’s just aggravating the situation.”


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SaipanFox - Who is he? |2009-04-01 19:41:30
What does Kalili know about the federal government. If John Oliver was elected, 110-229 would
already have been repealed. Kalili, on the other hand, is trying to take credit for the hard work
of our Great and Benevolent Leader in Governor Ben Fitial.

Our Great Governor will bring in daily
Asiana flights from Japan, Russia, China and Korea once he is reelected to another term. He will
bring in economic development like we saw when the garment industry was here. The casino industry
in Tinian will prosper and bring in more money than the stimulus.

In Our Great Leader Governor
Ben Fitial we TRUST.