DHS reviews asylum pact with NMI

Federal officials are currently reviewing the CNMI’s proposed guidelines governing the treatment of asylum seekers in the Commonwealth.

According to Gov. Juan N. Babauta, he discussed the proposed regulations with the Citizenship and Immigration Service of the Department of Homeland Security last week.

“We focused on the implementation of the rules and regulations that was promulgated by the Attorney General’s Office. We’re reviewing the comments. We want to make sure that both the DHS and the CNMI are in agreement with the provisions of the implementing rules and regulations,” said the governor in a telephone interview from Washington D.C. Sunday.

This process is part of the memorandum of agreement on asylum that was signed between the CNMI and the Department of the Interior last year.

The MOA would enable the CNMI as a U.S. jurisdiction to comply with the international treaties and conventions on asylum seekers.

The DHS was not a signatory to the MOA. However, the department is involved in the adoption of the governing rules and regulations in the CNMI.

The CNMI Legislature passed a bill early this year that aims to enforce international treaties and conventions on asylum seekers. The measure, a necessary component in the MOA, enables the AGO to implement the U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the U.N. Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

The U.S. is signatory to these treaties; Section 102 of Covenant also requires the CNMI to conform to such forms of treaties. However, provisions in the U.S. Code that implement these treaties in the U.S. do not apply within the CNMI due to its exclusive jurisdiction over immigration matters, hence the need for the legislation.

Authorities said the local measure intends to reiterate that the Commonwealth retains exclusive jurisdiction over immigration.

It also guarantees that no alien may obtain entry into the Commonwealth as a matter of right and that entry to the CNMI is a privilege extended to aliens based on terms and conditions prescribed by law.

The passage of the asylum bill was seen as a major accomplishment as it addresses one of the last immigration issues bugging the CNMI.

Authorities said that it would allay the concerns aired by federal government about the CNMI’s inability to handle asylum cases.