Agency backs FAS bill

A change in the open migration policy extended to citizens of the Freely Associated States will allow the CNMI government to deal with their growing population amid limited infrastructures and depleting public funds.

The proposal under a pending legislation will also help reduce the number of “undesirable” Micronesians who take up residency on the island without any means to support their stay, according to the Indigenous Affairs Office.

Commenting on House Bill 11-294 which seeks to restrict the migration of FAS citizens into the commonwealth, the office said the move is “appropriate and timely” in view of the need to monitor their presence here.

It will “certainly alleviate the current problem of undesirable non-immigrants from (FAS) and subsequently would curtail its ever growing population,” said its resident executive Ike DLG Demapan.

Proposed by Rep. Melvin Faisao, the measure will establish a mechanism to limit the stay of FAS citizens on the CNMI to those habitual residents who are either employed or attending school full-time.

It is the first attempt by the local government to address mounting problems sparked by the influx of people from neighboring islands who are allowed to migrate freely under the Compact of Free Association forged with the United States.

While the government has no record of the FAS population here, CNMI officials maintain hosting them has strained the island’s limited infrastructure, such as schools, hospitals and public housing, and has cost millions of dollars in expenditures that have yet to be reimbursed by Washington despite its earlier pledges.

Signed in 1986, the agreement with Palau, Marshalls and the Federated States of Micronesia is scheduled to be re-negotiated, but wealthier Pacific islands like Guam, CNMI and Hawaii have raised fear that a reduction in the economic aid to their neighbors may spark influx of more migrants into the U.S. territories.

According to Demapan, implementation of the proposed law could assist the government to “make adjustment and diminish its expenditures on the infrastructure… at a more conducive and affordable level.”

He said that for “undesirable non-immigrants” being provided with government assistance, “our indigenous constituents are losing the luxury environment and qualitative infrastructure that they should be benefiting from.”

The Indigenous Affairs Office is the latest among government agencies and departments which have expressed support on the pending legislation which is expected to be tackled by the House in the next few weeks.

Earlier, the Northern Marianas Housing Corporation, the Northern Marianas College, the Attorney General’s Office and the Department of Commerce have agreed to the plan.