Kilili appeals to DHS chief for delay

Delegate Gregorio “Kilili” C. Sablan on Wednesday asked U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to delay by 180 days the implementation of the transition period for federal immigration in the CNMI.

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial yesterday said he plans to personally hand to Napolitano a similar request letter when he arrives in Washington, D.C. next week for various meetings.

Sablan, during a press conference call yesterday morning, said even though he has initiated the letter to Napolitano, he thinks Fitial is the appropriate official to make the request.

Nevertheless, Sablan’s six-page letter lays out the reasons for delaying the June 1 implementation of the federal immigration law in the CNMI: lack of sufficient funding; delays in the issuance of regulations; and the potential for disruption of families.

Fitial, in a separate press conference, reiterated that the immediate implementation of the law “will devastate our economy even further.”

“The only body that can delay the implementation of this new federal law is the U.S. Congress. She [DHS Secretary Napolitano] should be the one to request for the delay. That’s the first step. We have to convince her to initiate the request for the delay to Congress,” said Fitial.

Sablan said Napolitano can push back by 180 days the start date of the transition period using the authority given her in the Consolidated Natural Resources Act, which mandated the transition from local to federal control of immigration.

He said effective border control to protect national security should be balanced with the need to protect the CNMI from adverse economic effects and expand the islands’ potential for future economic growth.

Napolitano’s predecessor as Homeland Security secretary is one of the defendants in the lawsuit filed by Fitial to stop the implementation of the federal immigration law.

When asked how he thinks this would affect Napolitano’s response, Fitial said: “Perhaps this will be an opportunity for her to get to know more about the reason why I filed the lawsuit…”

“I will tell her that this new federal law is not only bad but is life threatening. I told her that before…I will continue to impress upon her the very devastating effect of this new federal immigration law,” the governor said.

The CNMI House of Representatives earlier passed a resolution requesting the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to delay the application of U.S. immigration law in the CNMI. The resolution supports Sablan’s push to delay it by 180 days, the maximum amount allowed under Public Law 110-229.

Sablan said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in a report to Congress, estimated that $91.4 million will be needed for the federal agency to take on the six entry points in the CNMI.

However, only $5 million has been cobbled together from other department resources to have the entry points operational by June 1, 2009.

Sablan said DHS Assistant Secretary Richard Barth described this kind of buildup as “quick and dirty.”

“The lack of funds appropriated to implement the requirements of the CRNA not only reduces the department’s capacity to secure the borders, but also may limit your ability to respond to the economic dictates of the CRNA,” Sablan told Napolitano.

Sablan also asked for the inclusion of Chinese and Russian tourists in the visa waiver program.

“I understand there is no assurance that the necessary technologies will be funded in FY 2010, that there will be time for them to be installed before the end of the 180-day period of delay, or that other impediments to inclusion of Russian and China in the visa waiver program can be overcome,” he said.

Sablan said nine months after the CNRA became law, DHS has only issued regulations covering the visa waiver program.

“This lack of guidance makes planning by businesses and individuals extremely difficult,” he said in a statement.

In his letter, Sablan pointed out the potentially negative effects of the federalization law on immediate relatives of U.S. citizens in the CNMI.

He said the 180-day delay would give time to find a workable solution to making sure these relatives would not be deported when the immediate relative status they have from the CNMI expires.

Currently, the CNMI has a family-based immigration status for immediate relatives—children, spouses, and parents of U.S. citizens. IRs may work in the CNMI, and may enter and re-enter the islands. An IR status is renewable every year, and many IRs have been living in the CNMI with their families for at least 20 years.

With the transition to federal immigration, many IRs under CNMI law will lose their immigration status because the U.S. has no equivalent visa.

“So there is the very real prospect that as the IR permits issued by the Commonwealth expire, families composed in part of U.S. citizens, but without the financial means to have successfully applied for ‘green cards’ for IR family members, will see those family members face deportation,” Sablan told Napolitano.