Local
Thursday, December 10, 2009
USCIS seeks new comments on transitional worker rules
By Haidee V. Eugenio
Reporter
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has reopened the comment period for the interim final rule on the CNMI Transitional Worker Classification, giving a bit of reprieve to a community still grappling with changes brought by the federal takeover of CNMI immigration since Nov. 28.
The additional 30-day comment period will close on Jan. 7, 2010.
USCIS is one of the component agencies of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the lead agency implementing Public Law 110-229 or the federalization law.
The rule will be re-published in the Dec. 10 Federal Register.
“To provide the public and the CNMI with optimum opportunity to comment on the proposed transitional worker classification provisions, USCIS is reopening the comment period for an additional 30 days. USCIS will consider comments received during the entire public comment period in its development of the final rule,” USCIS said yesterday.
Some 100 comments, mostly from foreign workers in the CNMI, were received during the initial 30-day comment period.
Easy conversion mechanism
Steve Woodruff, who has been representing hundreds of nonresident workers in the CNMI, said yesterday that reopening the comment period is “the best way to satisfy the Administrative Procedures Act requirements, to give people enough time to comment on the regulations, before coming up with the final rule.”
Woodruff, a former Senate legal counsel, said his comment will focus more on technical aspects of the rule.
“DHS had said it prefers very specific comments,” he said.
But Woodruff said DHS should have a mechanism that allows for “easy conversion” of existing CNMI nonresident workers to CW-1 status.
“They should be able to obtain that new status just by presenting their CNMI permit,” he said, adding that DHS has taken other right steps, including providing parole and advance parole options.
Transitional worker
DHS is establishing a Transitional Worker Visa category, a new nonimmigrant visa classification under the Immigration and Nationality Act using the admission code CW-1 for the principal transitional worker and CW-2 for dependents. “CW” stands for “Commonwealth transitional worker.”
A “transitional worker” is defined as an alien worker who is currently ineligible for another classification under Immigration and Nationality Act and who performs services or labor for an employer in the CNMI.
The CNMI-Only Transitional Worker Program will be available to two groups of nonresidents: those who are lawfully present in the CNMI and those who are abroad.
Under the CNMI-Only Transitional Worker program, employers may file a petition for a transitional worker with USCIS using Form I-129CW, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker in the CNMI.
The Form I-29CW is a modified form of the Form I-29, but it is specifically used for the Commonwealth-only Transitional Worker program.
The fee for Form I-129CW would be $320, the same amount charged for the I-129, and an $80 biometrics fee.
In addition, the Consolidated Natural Resources Act mandates a “CNMI education funding fee” of $150 per beneficiary per year, which cannot be waived.
Helpful
Jim Arenovski, president of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, said although it does not look like DHS is changing anything in the rules at this point, providing additional time to get more input is “helpful.”
“However, we will need to check and verify that nothing has been changed. If nothing is changed, I would not see any reason for the Chamber to make additional comments,” he said.
Arenovski, who is also president of Delta Management Corp.-Saipan, was among those who submitted comments on the interim final rule.
In his seven-page comment as Chamber president, Arenovski offered an alternative solution to structure the mandated reduction in CNMI-only transitional workers: the creation of a “federally-administered CNMI-only H-2 visa program exempt from the numerical limitations applied in the United States.”
He said this solution would be “effective and efficient.” He said such a program would be otherwise largely identical to the existing federal H-2 visa program, but would “not” allow exit from the CNMI to Guam or other areas of the United States.
When asked for comment yesterday, Arenovski said he welcomes the reopening of the public comment period.
“It is welcomed because the more input DHS has about how these rules negatively (or the remote positive comment) affect individuals and businesses, the more they should push the regulations toward the intent of the law, which is not to harm the economy of the NMI. We hope more comments will help DHS see the need for a flexible program that meets their security needs and allows us the workforce (including long term access to foreign labor) to grow our economy,” he said.
Improved status
Ronnie Doca, board chair of the United Workers Movement-NMI, said the additional comment period will also give DHS more time to consider their request of giving improved status, like “green cards,” to long-time nonresident workers in the CNMI.
Doca, who is also the board chair of the Pilipino Contract Workers Association, said they will continue encouraging workers to submit comments to DHS.
“We may go from house to house for written comments,” he said.
Workers' groups, along with Florida-based human rights advocate Wendy Doromal, have been circulating a signature drive petitioning President Obama, the U.S. Congress and other federal agencies to grant “green cards” to long-term foreign workers in the CNMI.
Many of the comments submitted to DHS' interim final rule were from foreign workers and their U.S. citizen children.
Preliminary injunction
The interim final rule was initially published on Oct. 27 and intended to become effective on Nov. 27.
However, on Nov. 25, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Paul L. Friedman issued a preliminary injunction to prevent DHS from implementing the rule until it considers public comments and issues a final rule.
Friedman is the judge handling the CNMI government's lawsuit against federalization.
As a result of the judge's ruling, DHS has not implemented the transitional worker rule and USCIS has not accepted any petitions for a CNMI transitional worker, or CW-1, Nonimmigrant, Form I-129CW, until further notice.
The injunction did not affect any aspect of the CNRA's application of federal immigration laws other than the transitional worker nonimmigrant category. U.S. Customs and Border Protection took over immigration processing at airports on Nov. 28.
In his ruling, Friedman said DHS had no reasonable basis for publishing the interim rule without giving the CNMI and other stakeholders time to comment, as required under the Administrative Procedures Act.
To help alien workers leave and re-enter the CNMI or for employers to hire needed off-island workers, Friedman suggested that DHS promulgate a narrowly focused and temporary emergency regulation that addresses these issues.
DHS's USCIS decided instead to reopen and extend by 30 days the comment period.
Quick link
Janna M. Evans, USCIS regional lead for community outreach, reminded the public yesterday about the DHS website's quick link for the CNMI page, www.uscis.gov/cnmi.
Evans called on stakeholders to circulate the quick link to their coworkers, clients, friends, family and constituencies.
“It is the central repository for everything USCIS is doing to implement the CNRA in CNMI and we will continue to post useful information on this site. I am currently working to have our PowerPoint training materials posted there,” she said.
Showing posts with label PL 110-229. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PL 110-229. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Fitial, Workers Welcome Ruling; Federal Takeover Excludes Labor--For Now
Local
Friday, November 27, 2009
Fitial, workers welcome ruling
Federal takeover excludes labor-for now
By Haidee V. Eugenio
Reporter
The federal government will only be able to implement border control at the stroke of midnight on Nov. 28, but not the existing CNMI labor program, at least for now.
This is because of a federal judge's order dated Nov. 25 preventing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from implementing in its current form the interim final rule on the CNMI transitional worker program, which takes effect on Saturday.
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and the United Workers Movement-NMI separately welcomed yesterday U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Paul L. Friedman's ruling granting the CNMI government's motion for a preliminary injunction preventing DHS from implementing its CNMI transitional worker (CW) classification rule.
“I am very pleased with this favorable decision by Judge Friedman. The interim final rule fails to comply with Public Law 110-229 and will be very damaging to the Commonwealth if it goes into effect in its present form,” Fitial said in a statement yesterday.
Fitial, who turns 64 today, sued the federal government over federalization.
He urged DHS to consider the over 100 comments that have so far been filed on its transitional worker program rule.
In an interview with Saipan Tribune on Wednesday, Fitial reiterated that a federal takeover of local labor is “unnecessary.”
“We don't have any problem having the federal government take over immigration. Let them control our border because we don't have the capabilities to do that, but we have a strong enforcement mechanism to control our labor. Why do they have to remove labor from us? It doesn't make sense and we're the only one. All the other [U.S.] territories, they control their own labor,” he said.
'Green card'
Ronnie Doca and Rabby Syed, leaders of the workers group, hope that latest court ruling will give DHS more time to consider their concerns.
Workers groups in the CNMI want the federal government to grant “green cards” or legal permanent resident status to certain classes of nonresidents in the CNMI, including long-term foreign workers.
“We are happy with the ruling so DHS will have more time to look into our concerns. Among the most important things we are asking [for] is a better immigration for long-time nonresident workers, and a blanket authority for those with valid CNMI permits to re-enter the CNMI after a vacation or emergency exit,” said Doca, board chairman of the group, which comprises thousands of foreign workers in the CNMI.
Worker groups have started a signature campaign asking President Obama and the U.S. Congress to grant “green cards” to certain foreigners in the CNMI, 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.
'Exit, entry'
DHS' interim final rule, which is supposed to take effect Saturday, prohibits foreign workers from re-entering the islands using only their valid CNMI work and entry permit.
Friedman said DHS could “promulgate a narrowly focused and temporary emergency regulation” that addresses only the “exit and entry” problems presented in the department's interim final rule.
Regulations by DHS' U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services would have required foreign workers to secure a CW-1 visa from a U.S. embassy for them to re-enter the CNMI, but only after they first secure a CNMI-only transitional worker status, which may take up to 60 days to acquire.
This means foreign workers can exit but not re-enter the CNMI up to at least early 2010, in order to secure a CW status and a CW-1 visa to comply with the DHS interim final rule.
DHS, however, repeatedly said that nonresident workers can exit the CNMI any time during the transition period from Nov. 28, 2009 to Dec. 31, 2014, but they cannot re-enter the islands without a CW-1 visa obtained from a U.S. embassy.
There is also a possibility that an applicant may be denied a CW-1 visa and therefore won't be able to re-enter the CNMI and continue working on the islands despite possessing a valid CNMI work and entry permit.
The Form I-29CW is a modified form of the Form I-29, but it is specifically used for the Commonwealth-only Transitional Worker, or CW, program.
A “transitional worker” under P.L. 110-229 is defined as an alien worker who is currently ineligible for another classification under the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Act and who performs services or labor for an employer in the CNMI.
Most of the foreign workers in the CNMI are from the Philippines and China, while others are from Korea, Thailand and Bangladesh.
Florida-based human rights activist and former Rota teacher Wendy Doromal expressed hope that the comments so far submitted on the DHS interim final rule “should now be considered by DHS.”
Many relate to travel restrictions and the requirement for a visa for a foreign worker to return to the CNMI after traveling for personal or medical reasons.
Friedman agreed with the CNMI that DHS had no reasonable basis for publishing the interim final rule without complying with the notice and comment provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act.
The judge also made clear that he was denying any possible effort by the U.S. Department of Justice representing DHS to obtain a stay of his order pending appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C.
Border control
The DHS transitional worker rule is supposed to take effect Saturday, when DHS' U.S. Customs and Border Protection takes over border control.
Edward H. Low, public affairs liaison at CBP's San Francisco office, earlier said that between 40 and 50 CBP officers will be on Saipan to take over immigration control at the Saipan International Airport at the stroke of midnight on Nov. 28.
But as of press time yesterday, Low said he's still checking to see what, if any, impact the court ruling will have on CBP operations.
Among other things, the federal takeover of local immigration means U.S. visas will be required of foreigners to enter the CNMI, just like Guam, Hawaii, and the rest of the United States, except for nationals of countries that are included in visa waiver programs.
The CNMI is the last U.S. territory that controls its own borders.
Fingerprinting and eye scan will also become main fixtures at the airport, just like anywhere in the U.S.
P.L. 110-229 or the Consolidated Natural Resources Act, signed by President George Bush in May 2008, not only applies federal immigration control in the CNMI but also gave the CNMI its first non-voting delegate to the U.S. Congress.
As a result of the federalization law, the CNMI held its first delegate election in November 2008, won by Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan, a former executive director of the Commonwealth Election Commission.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Fitial, workers welcome ruling
Federal takeover excludes labor-for now
By Haidee V. Eugenio
Reporter
The federal government will only be able to implement border control at the stroke of midnight on Nov. 28, but not the existing CNMI labor program, at least for now.
This is because of a federal judge's order dated Nov. 25 preventing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from implementing in its current form the interim final rule on the CNMI transitional worker program, which takes effect on Saturday.
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and the United Workers Movement-NMI separately welcomed yesterday U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Paul L. Friedman's ruling granting the CNMI government's motion for a preliminary injunction preventing DHS from implementing its CNMI transitional worker (CW) classification rule.
“I am very pleased with this favorable decision by Judge Friedman. The interim final rule fails to comply with Public Law 110-229 and will be very damaging to the Commonwealth if it goes into effect in its present form,” Fitial said in a statement yesterday.
Fitial, who turns 64 today, sued the federal government over federalization.
He urged DHS to consider the over 100 comments that have so far been filed on its transitional worker program rule.
In an interview with Saipan Tribune on Wednesday, Fitial reiterated that a federal takeover of local labor is “unnecessary.”
“We don't have any problem having the federal government take over immigration. Let them control our border because we don't have the capabilities to do that, but we have a strong enforcement mechanism to control our labor. Why do they have to remove labor from us? It doesn't make sense and we're the only one. All the other [U.S.] territories, they control their own labor,” he said.
'Green card'
Ronnie Doca and Rabby Syed, leaders of the workers group, hope that latest court ruling will give DHS more time to consider their concerns.
Workers groups in the CNMI want the federal government to grant “green cards” or legal permanent resident status to certain classes of nonresidents in the CNMI, including long-term foreign workers.
“We are happy with the ruling so DHS will have more time to look into our concerns. Among the most important things we are asking [for] is a better immigration for long-time nonresident workers, and a blanket authority for those with valid CNMI permits to re-enter the CNMI after a vacation or emergency exit,” said Doca, board chairman of the group, which comprises thousands of foreign workers in the CNMI.
Worker groups have started a signature campaign asking President Obama and the U.S. Congress to grant “green cards” to certain foreigners in the CNMI, 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.
'Exit, entry'
DHS' interim final rule, which is supposed to take effect Saturday, prohibits foreign workers from re-entering the islands using only their valid CNMI work and entry permit.
Friedman said DHS could “promulgate a narrowly focused and temporary emergency regulation” that addresses only the “exit and entry” problems presented in the department's interim final rule.
Regulations by DHS' U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services would have required foreign workers to secure a CW-1 visa from a U.S. embassy for them to re-enter the CNMI, but only after they first secure a CNMI-only transitional worker status, which may take up to 60 days to acquire.
This means foreign workers can exit but not re-enter the CNMI up to at least early 2010, in order to secure a CW status and a CW-1 visa to comply with the DHS interim final rule.
DHS, however, repeatedly said that nonresident workers can exit the CNMI any time during the transition period from Nov. 28, 2009 to Dec. 31, 2014, but they cannot re-enter the islands without a CW-1 visa obtained from a U.S. embassy.
There is also a possibility that an applicant may be denied a CW-1 visa and therefore won't be able to re-enter the CNMI and continue working on the islands despite possessing a valid CNMI work and entry permit.
The Form I-29CW is a modified form of the Form I-29, but it is specifically used for the Commonwealth-only Transitional Worker, or CW, program.
A “transitional worker” under P.L. 110-229 is defined as an alien worker who is currently ineligible for another classification under the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Act and who performs services or labor for an employer in the CNMI.
Most of the foreign workers in the CNMI are from the Philippines and China, while others are from Korea, Thailand and Bangladesh.
Florida-based human rights activist and former Rota teacher Wendy Doromal expressed hope that the comments so far submitted on the DHS interim final rule “should now be considered by DHS.”
Many relate to travel restrictions and the requirement for a visa for a foreign worker to return to the CNMI after traveling for personal or medical reasons.
Friedman agreed with the CNMI that DHS had no reasonable basis for publishing the interim final rule without complying with the notice and comment provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act.
The judge also made clear that he was denying any possible effort by the U.S. Department of Justice representing DHS to obtain a stay of his order pending appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C.
Border control
The DHS transitional worker rule is supposed to take effect Saturday, when DHS' U.S. Customs and Border Protection takes over border control.
Edward H. Low, public affairs liaison at CBP's San Francisco office, earlier said that between 40 and 50 CBP officers will be on Saipan to take over immigration control at the Saipan International Airport at the stroke of midnight on Nov. 28.
But as of press time yesterday, Low said he's still checking to see what, if any, impact the court ruling will have on CBP operations.
Among other things, the federal takeover of local immigration means U.S. visas will be required of foreigners to enter the CNMI, just like Guam, Hawaii, and the rest of the United States, except for nationals of countries that are included in visa waiver programs.
The CNMI is the last U.S. territory that controls its own borders.
Fingerprinting and eye scan will also become main fixtures at the airport, just like anywhere in the U.S.
P.L. 110-229 or the Consolidated Natural Resources Act, signed by President George Bush in May 2008, not only applies federal immigration control in the CNMI but also gave the CNMI its first non-voting delegate to the U.S. Congress.
As a result of the federalization law, the CNMI held its first delegate election in November 2008, won by Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan, a former executive director of the Commonwealth Election Commission.
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