US Senate OKs federalization bill

The U.S. Senate yesterday passed an omnibus bill that contains provisions to federalize the Commonwealth’s immigration control.

The bill, approved 91-4, includes technical amendments to the CNMI provisions previously passed by the House of Representatives. Minor changes were also made to the other House-approved measures included in the package.

The omnibus bill now heads to the U.S. House, where it has strong bipartisan support. Once the bill clears the House, it will be sent to the president for his action and will then become law.

In addition to federalizing the Northern Marianas’ immigration and labor controls, the bill would give the commonwealth a congressional delegate with limited voting powers. Currently, Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia have a delegate in the House.

U.S. lawmakers hailed passage of S. 2739, which includes 62 bills covering public lands, national parks, water resources and territorial issues.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, said, “Today was a good day for the Senate, and for the protection of our public lands. I’m pleased that we passed this package of 62 bills, which includes new protections for outstanding wilderness, historic sites, national parks and precious water resources. When measures such as these are so broadly supported on a bipartisan basis, members on both sides of the aisle deserve to be able to have the Senate act on them expeditiously. Sen. [Pete] Domenici and I worked very closely and cooperatively with our colleagues to ensure that they got that opportunity today.”

U.S. Virgin Islands Rep. Donna Christensen, chairwoman of the House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, said she was “very pleased” with the Senate’s action. She introduced the provisions known as the CNMI Immigration, Security, and Labor Act, or ISLA, in the House. ISLA was passed by the House in December 2007.

“ISLA will provide a greater measure of security for the Marianas archipelago and opportunities for the region to grow and diversify their economies,” Christensen said.

California Rep. George Miller, who for more than 15 years has pushed for federal policy changes to CNMI labor and immigration controls, said, “The Senate’s good work today marks the first time that both the House and Senate have approved legislation closing the legal loopholes that have allowed some of the poorest men and women in the world to be lured to the CNMI, abused, and exploited in sweatshops in this American territory.”

Previous efforts to have the federal government take over the CNMI’s labor and immigration controls were blocked by disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and then House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

Meanwhile, the CNMI administration said it was disappointed with the Senate vote. Gov. Benigno R. Fitial said the proposed federal immigration controls were too restrictive and “would have a very severe adverse impact on our economy and community.”

The local government fears that a federal immigration system would restrict the Commonwealth’s access to foreign workers and tourists, especially from Russia and China.

“The federalization of the CNMI immigration system would be a radical policy change imposed during the CNMI’s most vulnerable point,” he said, adding that the CNMI is currently suffering from its worst economic downturn in more than 20 years.

The governor also said the federalization move was not based on current facts and ignores the CNMI’s economic situation. The CNMI government insists that Congress should consider economic impact reports before taking final action on immigration policy changes for the Commonwealth.

Lynn Knight, chairperson of the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands, who is currently in Washington D.C. to lobby against the federalization bill, expressed concerns with the way the bill is written and said she will continue to work with the Fitial administration on the matter.

“I’m very concerned that the formula in the bill called for the reduction of the guest workers population to zero and trades it for several H visa systems. I’m very concerned about that because the types of jobs that the H system calls for does not apply to any of the jobs that we have in the CNMI.

“The H visa system is very inflexible; it will not work. It’s for very specialized jobs and it’s for seasonal jobs. The vast majority of the jobs that we have do not fit into the H visa system, therefore, we’re either going lose out or we’re going to have to negotiate a new kind of labor permit that the federal government doesn’t now have,” she said.

Knight stressed the importance of working closely with federal agencies “to see if we can negotiate something. As of right now, and having talked personally with these agencies in Washington D.C., it is not clear to me that we will get any special deals. This has me very concerned.”

“We’re going to continue to monitor this and do whatever we can, whether that is to work with members of Congress or with federal agencies,” she said.

Rep. Tina Sablan, one of the local officials in favor of immigration federalization, said she was pleased to hear about the passage of the bill in the U.S. Senate. She also called on fellow CNMI leaders to cooperate with the federal government in drafting regulations to implement the soon-to-be-enacted law.

“The passage of this bill brings us closer to a stronger voice in Congress, and to stabilizing and enhancing labor and immigration conditions in the CNMI. The next step is for our government to work cooperatively and productively with the federal government in the development of the new immigration regulations. Now is the time to be reasonable and intelligent in our relations with the federal government. We cannot and should not continue to fight what has been long overdue. Our economic future depends on it,” she said.

For her part, Guam Rep. Madeleine Bordallo vowed to work with the House leadership to move the bill toward enactment.

Guam’s visitor industry will benefit from a provision in the bill that would unify Guam and the CNMI under a regional visa-waiver program. Tourists entering Guam or the CNMI under the program will be able to stay in either location, or any combination of both locations for up to 45 days. This is an extension of Guam’s current visa waiver program, which provides for a 15-day period of stay.

The bill also has provisions that would exempt the CNMI and Guam from the cap on the number of temporary work visas issued nationwide. This is expected to address the expected labor shortages for the planned military buildup in the territory.