While acknowledging the divisive impact a bill seeking to grant permanent residence to a select group of alien workers currently in the Commonwealth has done to the community, Gov. Benigno R. Fitial nonetheless scored authors of H.R. 3079 saying such a provision has no basis.
“There simply is no justification for such a provision-whether confined to five-year residents or not. The bill’s drafters chose to ignore that such an enhanced status was not permitted or contemplated when these workers elected voluntarily to come to the CNMI years ago to enjoy the economic opportunities available there,” said Fitial in an Oct. 22 letter to members of the House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources. The committee is expected to begin deliberating on H.R. 3079.
Fitial said the notion that these workers are entitled to this special treatment because of past abuses and inability to leave the Commonwealth had already been proven false by the available facts.
“Very few of these long-term residents have ever filed labor complaints and many have enjoyed continual employment by some of the CNMl’s larger employers. For example, a recent report by the hotel association (HANMI) indicates that about 44 percent of the total workforce of the 15-member hotels are foreign workers who have worked for their current employer for five years or more,” he said.
Fitial added that the bill’s provision for employment-based immigrant visas in a way radically departs from the principles underlying the federal immigration laws.
He said under the federal laws even skilled workers are admitted on a nonimmigrant basis, without any assurance that ultimately the worker will obtain lawful permanent residence.
“There is no reason why the CNMI should be limited to fulfilling its employment needs, for skilled or semi-skilled workers, with only immigrants admitted for lawful permanent residence in the United States. The practical implications of this proposal were largely ignored by the drafters. This is another reason why we believe that this entire subject should have been considered within the Congress by those committees whose members and staff have the necessary experience and expertise in dealing with the federal immigration laws,” he said.
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