General discussion on federalization with DOI

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and a visiting group of federal officials only briefly touched on immigration “federalization” during their meeting yesterday.

Doug Domenech, the Department of the Interior’s acting deputy assistant secretary for insular affairs, said the U.S. government’s nearing takeover of local immigration was discussed “in a very general way.”

The Interior Department is one of the five federal agencies tasked with drafting the regulations for implementing the Commonwealth’s new immigration law. The four other agencies are the U.S. departments of Homeland Security, Labor, and Justice, and the State Department.

As Washington’s point person for its relationships with the insular areas, Domenech will play a crucial role in writing the regulations.

In a press conference yesterday, Domenech said there had been preliminary discussions about federalization. He added that officials of the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Labor will visit the islands next month to meet with local leaders about the regulations.

“For the most part, the Department of Homeland Security is the lead agency. So we’re kind of waiting for them to take the first step,” he said.

Nikolao Pula, the director of the U.S. Office of Insular Affairs, said that coordinating things among the five agencies “is not as easy as we want it to be.”

He added, however, that the Interior Department has been active in communicating Guam and the CNMI’s interest in making sure the joint visa waiver program works in the favor of both destinations’ tourism industries.

“Be assured that federal officials are going to come here and explain what they are going to be doing. It’s not like the federal government is going to come down and take over everything. There’s going to be some discussions with the folks here, and agreements will be made in terms of the [regulations] that are going to be written,” Pula said.

But the Fitial administration does not seem quite ready to call off its fight against federalization.

The governor told the media yesterday he is still consulting with lawmakers, businesses, and other groups on the three options he outlined in his State of the Commonwealth Address last month. The options are to sue the U.S. government, help draft the regulations, or lobby the U.S. Congress to amend the recently approved immigration measure.

“A lawsuit does not have to be confrontational. We can litigate to negotiate,” he said.