Kaipat says passport surrender policy not new

Tuesday, 04 August 2009 00:00 By Junhan B. Todeno - Variety News Staff
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FOREIGN workers who just arrived on Saipan said the Division of Immigration asked them to surrender their passports upon their arrival at the Francisco C. Ada International Airport and only got them back after they underwent the mandatory orientation seminar at the Department of Labor.

Division of Labor officer Israel De Leon briefs guest workers who just arrived on Saipan during a mandatory orientation program. Photo by Junhan B. Todeno

Division of Labor officer Israel De Leon briefs guest workers who just arrived on Saipan during a mandatory orientation program. Photo by Junhan B. Todeno
But Labor Deputy Secretary Cinta Kaipat said there is nothing new to this policy.

“Workers must complete certain processing, including orientation, in order to enter the Commonwealth. The Immigration Division holds passports until all processing is completed,” she said.

She said even the U.S. applies the same policy when admitting foreign workers.

She said every guest worker arriving in the Commonwealth must attend the orientation. If they fail, they could be immediately repatriated.

The labor official said all guest workers should be aware about the local labor policies, particularly the mandatory, orientation seminar.

The local labor laws were modified on Jan. 1, 2008.

Kapat said they haven’t received any complaints about the orientation process, and “many guest workers have expressed their thanks for the very informative way the Commonwealth welcomes new workers.”

In some cases, she added, employers attend the orientation session along with the workers. She said some employers even praise the local labor system for adopting the mandatory orientation policy.

The Labor Department holds orientation seminar in three languages—English, Chinese and Korean—though a videotaped program.

Kaipat said they will soon have Filipino and Japanese versions despite budget constraints.

She said each new guest worker received basic information on their rights and responsibilities under Commonwealth and U.S. law.

The employment of each arriving guest worker is checked to ensure that an actual job is available and the employer is financially capable of paying the required wages, she said.

“All these new steps, put into place by Public Law 15-108, have substantially reduced the number of labor disputes and complaints involving recently-arriving workers. The program is working as the Legislature intended,” Kaipat said.

But Kaipat said the numbers of arrivals of guest workers have declined this year compared to the previous years.

She cited the contributing factors: the Labor Department vigorously enforces the U.S. citizen workforce participation requirement and regulation changes that have greatly narrowed the available exemptions; the Governor barred entry of unskilled workers; and the Labor Department enforces a secondary preference for on-island workers as it is much more efficient for the Commonwealth government when