Resident status forum draws hundreds

Close to 400 people, most of them long-term alien workers, attended Wednesday night’s forum on the issue of long-term resident status for aliens in the CNMI.

Dekada counsel Stephen C. Woodruff, CNMI Bar Association president Maya Kara, Governor’s legal counsel Deanne Siemer, and TaoTao Tano president Greg Cruz were among the key speakers at the forum held at Monte Carlo in Chalan Piao.

The venue was so packed with people that a huge crowd was forced to stay outside as the place could not accommodate any more people.

All speakers agreed to keep talking about the issue in order to figure out the best and the right way to go about possibly changing CNMI law to grant improved status to long-term alien workers.

Some local residents and businessmen also participated in the discussion that lasted more than two hours.

Woodruff told Saipan Tribune that the issue is worth pursuing and that the forum is a good idea for garnering all possible input.

“This is a good idea that is something that we ought to do. There’s general agreement on that,” Woodruff said.

The lawyer pointed out that it’s a process to discuss long-term resident status for aliens in the CNMI.

Woodruff said there’s no specific proposal or bill yet related to this issue.

“It’s a process to try to reach consensus in the community, that this is something that is ought to be done and what are the ways it ought to be done. The process is moving forward very nicely,” he said.

The bottom line, Woodruff said, is to have all interested parties in the community to have their say and to pay attention so that they can try to have agreement.

He said there are business people who believe that this is a good idea.

Woodruff cited that Cruz is already part of the process, which was started by Siemer.

Siemer first approached Conrad Ocampo, one of the Unity Movement core organizers, to discuss about meeting with some Filipino groups.

Woodruff said they ultimately agreed to that and so the first small meeting was held in his conference room last March 11.

Woodruff said this was followed by the second larger meeting, in which Siemer brought along Kara.

He said Siemer and Kara, who emphasized that they are doing this as private citizens, are in support of the idea of providing long-term residents a status.

“They believe that it’s good for the CNMI for this to be done. That’s the right thing to do,” Woodruff said.