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Bill restricting hiring of foreign workers by nonresidents vetoed
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Posted on Aug 11 1999
Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio yesterday disapproved a proposed law restricting employment of guest workers in businesses owned by nonresidents on the island, saying the measure may face legal questions from existing firms.
He, however, expressed support to the proposal and prodded legislators to seek assistance from his legal counsel to draw up a new version that will address his concerns.
Offered by Vice Speaker Jesus T. Attao and Rep. Oscar M. Babauta, House Bill 11-247 aimed to forbid alien workers who entered the CNMI for employment before July 28, 1987 to bring in foreign manpower for their own businesses.
The legislation would have amended existing laws limiting nonresidents who arrived on the island after that date to have financial interest or operate companies here.
“I support the overall purpose of this bill to provide further control of the number of nonresidents in the Commonwealth,” Tenorio said in his veto message.
“However, the bill as drafted may present legal difficulties for nonresidents who are already operating existing businesses in the CNMI,” he added.
The governor instructed members of the Legislature to redraft the measure with his legal counsel’s help “to be more specific to those intended to be covered.”
Noting the absence of justification for seeking further restrictions on businesses on the island, Tenorio said “it would be extremely valuable to clearly state the purpose of this measure on the face of the bill.”
The Commonwealth has come under fire in recent years from the U.S. government over its alleged failure to curb the number of migrant workers on the island, mostly Asians, who comprise nearly 90 percent of the jobs in the private sector.
Last year, the Tenorio administration implemented a hiring ban on alien workers, except for some businesses in the tourism industry, in efforts to reduce their size and to thwart Washington’s attempts to strip CNMI authority over its minimum wage and immigration policies.
