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Miller still pushing for immigration control
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Posted on Sep 30 2004
Veteran U.S. Rep. George Miller has not changed his mind on the need to fully extend the U.S. Immigration’s reach to the CNMI. This time, he said the threat of international terrorism calls for it.
“It makes no sense to me that anyone should be able to enter any jurisdiction of the U.S. with anything less than the tightest security we would require of someone entering New York or Los Angeles,” said Miller in a Sept. 29 statement on the bill calling for the CNMI representation in Congress. He supports the passage of the proposed measure.
While he acknowledged that reforms have been made affecting labor and immigration, he said he “would prefer to see more change in the CNMI coming from this Congress.”
“In particular, I believe we should, in this era of terrorism and border security, fully extend the coverage of U.S. immigration law to the CNMI,” he said.
Miller said that the CNMI “sits out there as a largely unregulated point of entry, with the flag of the U.S. flying but the immigration laws of the U.S. not applying.”
Miller, a Democrat from California who has been highly critical of labor and immigration practices in the CNMI for many years, credited Gov. Juan N. Babauta for “major improvements in the integrity of the CNMI bureaucracy, tightening of labor law enforcement, and improved coordination with various federal agencies to ensure reforms.”
Under the Babauta administration, he said that agreements on anti-discrimination policy have been executed, new labor regulations approved, new refugees rules promulgated, and that the Legislature is considering tough new legislation on anti-trafficking and anti-smuggling involving workers.
He further said that the Immigration and Labor departments have been separated, and technological improvements in both departments would greatly increase the government’s ability to monitor who enters the CNMI and for what purpose.
“These improvements are more important than ever in the post 9/11 world since, unwisely, federal immigration standards still do not apply to the CNMI,” he said.
