Workers to lobby Finance on stimulus checks, may sue

Foreign workers are poised to urge taxation officials at the Department of Finance for talks in a bid to see the release of long delayed federal economic stimulus checks that many of them have yet to get, and may pursue a class action lawsuit if the talks fail.

The federal stimulus checks, a key aspect of the Bush administration’s efforts to revitalize the economy in the midst of an ongoing nationwide financial slump, still have not reached scores of local residents, including many foreign workers, according to Irene Tantiado, president of the United Coalition of Workers, a local labor group. Tax officials, however, have already distributed the checks to other recipients. In response, Tantiado said last week the workers are asking Finance to meet with them on the issue and explain the delay. She added that a lawsuit could be on the horizon if the talks fail to yield results.

“If they can help us without litigation, that would be better,” Tantiado said in an interview, noting that she has begun discussions with an attorney on the issue. “Individual requests for help are not working and the guest workers have come together out of desperation to seek other means of asking the government for a commitment.”

Rather than file suit over the delayed check, Tantiado noted the coalition would prefer a simple agreement from Finance that details a timeline for its plans to release the undelivered checks. “We just want to hear when,” she said.

Officials with Finance were not immediately available for a response. Yet Charles Reyes, the governor’s spokesman, said the introduction of the stimulus checks has proven a complicated issue for local tax officials and that once a host of problems in some tax filings—such as some incorrect information on tax forms—are resolved, Finance will likely release the remaining checks.

“We’re confident that we’re abiding by the IRS regulations and applicable laws,” Reyes said. “We’re looking forward to resolving this issue amicably without the need for a lawsuit.”

In related news, foreign workers who are the parents of disabled children—distraught over the prospect of being sent home due to lack of employment—are planning to petition the Department of Homeland Security for relief as it crafts new federal immigration rules for the CNMI.

Scores of alien parents with children who have disabilities ranging from autism to hearing impairments joined together recently in an organized effort to win government assistance. Among them, many are facing the threat of repatriation due to unemployment yet their children are American citizens.

Local immigration and labor officials, according to several workers interviewed, have told these parents repeatedly that their children could remain in the CNMI but that they themselves could not, a position most see as unacceptable. Moreover, access to the therapy and other services their children need is often limited or nonexistent in their home countries.

After a meeting last week that included activist Wendy Doromal, Tantiado said the parents are now preparing a letter to DHS on the issue.

“We have a number of parents whose entry permits will be up soon and they have said they cannot leave their children,” Tantiado said Thursday, adding the forthcoming letter will present “a formal request for them to consider the parents when writing the regulations.”

This effort comes as Rep. Tina Sablan (I-Saipan) and Edward Salas (R-Saipan) are drafting a letter to the CNMI Department of Labor that includes—among other issues—a request for officials to address the needs of disabled children with foreign parents.

“We should be concerned about any parents with children who have disabilities, foreign and U.S. parents,” Sablan said in an interview, noting recent efforts by a local organization to bolster services for all children with disabilities in the CNMI.