Panel: Shelve bill giving status to long-term alien workers

The House of Representatives should shelve a bill granting improved immigration status for long-time guest workers in the Commonwealth, a legislative committee said.

The House Committee on Judiciary and Governmental Operations has issued a report recommending the filing of the measure, which proposes to allow eligible alien workers to live and work at will in the Commonwealth.

But Rep. Tina Sablan, one the bill’s sponsors and a member of the committee, said she will draft a “minority report” to argue against shelving the legislation.

Co-sponsored by Reps. Heinz Hofschneider, Edward Salas and Victor Hocog, House Bill 16-96 creates a new immigration category of “resident foreign national” for contract guest workers who have lived legally in the CNMI for at least five years. Under the bill, eligible foreign workers may stay in the Commonwealth for five-year periods regardless of their job status.

In its report, the House JGO Committee said it finds it reasonable to allow any person who meets established residency and character requirements to remain in the CNMI under the proposed five-year resident foreign national entry permit.

“Such an allowance will benefit the Commonwealth,” the committee stated.

But the committee noted that the recently signed federal immigration law will supersede and pre-empt all CNMI laws related to the entry and removal of foreign workers in the CNMI. The U.S. federal government will take over CNMI immigration on June 1, 2009.

The committee further said that public hearings held on Saipan, Tinian and Rota “produced strong opposition and support of this measure. Both sides produced valid reasoning for its passage as well as its defeat.”

Based on these findings, the committee recommended the filing of the bill. The committee report was signed by the chairwoman, Rep. Rosemond Santos, and two members, Rep. Joseph Reyes and Rep. Edwin Aldan. Sablan and Salas, both sponsors of the bill, did not sign the report.

In an interview, Sablan said she was “perplexed” by the committee’s recommendation.

“On the one hand, they say that the proposed program would benefit the CNMI. They acknowledge that there were valid opinions expressed for and against the bill. But it seems to me that the primary reason for recommending filing is because of the U.S. federal law. I don’t think that that was a compelling enough argument,” she said.

She added that the impact of the immigration federalization law on local statutes was one of the issues were taken up during the public hearings.

“Members of the community have said that, while we are still in control of immigration and while we’re at the stage that we’re drafting regulations, that the CNMI should present something at the table. This bill would be one of them, it would be a starting point,” she said.

She said she will write a “minority report” urging the House members to approve the bill. The bill has been recalled from the committee for debate on the floor.