Senate OKs bills on foreign nationals’ entry

The Senate approved Friday two bills it said would deter the entry to the CNMI of unwanted aliens such as suspected terrorists and members of criminal groups. It said the bill would also stop the employment of illegal foreign nationals.

The Senate passed without changes Senate Bill 14-88, which amends the CNMI Entry and Deportation Act relating to “excludable aliens” and “voluntary departures,” and S.B. 14-89, which aims to amend sections 4381 and 4442 or Title 3 of the Commonwealth Code, which relate to illegal alien employment activities.

Sen. Paterno Hocog, who introduced the bills over a week ago, cited in S.B. 14-88 that the current immigration law does not provide authority for the exclusion of foreign nationals who could threaten the safety or security of the CNMI.

“The absence of such provision makes it more likely that suspected terrorists or members of organized criminal syndicates are able to enter the Commonwealth. Nor does the current law adequately address foreign nationals who refuse to cooperate with officials pursuing criminal prosecutions,” said Hocog.

The senator said that persons often flee the Commonwealth to avoid criminal prosecution or to avoid an appearance as a witness in a criminal case.

But these individuals, he said, routinely return to the CNMI “and enjoy the benefits afforded by life in the islands, though they have demonstrated willingness to impair essential government functions, thwart the interests of justice, and thus threaten the safety and security of all Commonwealth residents.”

Hocog’s bill also wants to ban aliens who do not have a passport valid for at least 90 days.

The bill also amends the law’s “voluntary departure” provision to ensure that, at the discretion of the AGO, a person departing shall not be considered deported “but be denied re-entry to the CNMI for 10 years and subjected to a fine of up to $5,000.”

Except as allowed by the AGO in writing, a voluntary departure shall not be provided if the alien has been convicted of any crime involving violence and has two or more convictions of Driving Under the Influence of Drugs or Alcohol.

The existing voluntary deportation policy, he said, does not provide an adequate penalty for aliens who violate the terms of their entry “and is therefore an impractical alternative to deportation.”

People who are offered the opportunity to voluntary depart may immediately return to the CNMI “without suffering any consequence beyond the cost of a plane ticket.”

As a result, voluntary departures “are rarely considered by the Office of the Attorney General’s Office as a practical option.”

On the other hand, a deportation is a costly and time-consuming procedure that permanently bars a person from the CNMI. Consequently, foreign nationals usually avoid deportations at all costs, said Hocog. This, he said, greatly inhibits the AGO’s ability to reach plea agreements in criminal cases involving foreign defendants.

In turn, this needlessly overwhelms the prosecutor’s office, the Office of the Public Defender and the courts with cases that would typically be resolved by a non-trial disposition.

Meantime, S.B.14-89, wants to amend Sections 4381 and 4442 of Title 3 of the Commonwealth Code, which had been declared “unconstitutional” by the U.S. District Court in 2000. The court said that the provisions are “irreconcilable with the CNMI Constitution and the U.S.”

Pursuant to the court ruling, Hocog said that the presence of a neutral magistrate is desirable and in fact, proper when the government’s powers of search and arrest are exercised, except in cases when obtaining such warrant is difficult or impossible.

Under the bill, an immigration officer may interrogate a suspicious alien but only briefly and shall not constitute an arrest. The person interrogated may refuse to answer.

The officer shall have authority to conduct a warrant-less search at the immigration inspection counter or port of entry, provided such officer has a probable cause to suspect that the search would lead to the exclusion of that person.

The bill says that an immigration officer may arrest without warrant any alien, who, in the officer’s view, is entering or attempting to enter the CNMI in violation of any law or regulation.