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House names federalization liaison members
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Posted on Nov 10 2008
Members have been appointed to a task force that will serve as the Legislature’s liaison on immigration federalization issues.
Speaker Arnold I. Palacios named Rep. Diego T. Benavente, chairman of the House Committee on Federal and Foreign Relations, Rep. Joseph James Camacho, and Rep. Francisco Dela Cruz to sit on the task force on behalf of the House of Representatives.
From the Senate, the task force members will be Sen. Felix Mendiola, chairman of the Senate Committee on Federal Relations and Independent Agencies, Sen. Jude Hofschneider, and Sen. Luis Crisostimo.
In an interview, Benavente said the task force needs to get organized immediately. He hopes the task force will have its first meeting tomorrow, Nov. 12.
“We have already defaulted on the visa waiver issue, which are due for release this month. But there are other provisions of the new immigration that will not be in effect until June 1st. Hopefully, we can provide some input in the drafting of those regulations,” he said.
The task force was created after the House and Senate adopted a joint resolution calling for it. The resolution expresses the Legislature’s desire “to be an informed participant, in collaboration with concerned public and private entities, in the development of [U.S. Public Law] 110-229 regulations at they pertain to the CNMI.”
The job of the task force is to conduct public hearings, make official inquiries on federalization, and keep the Legislature informed of any development on the drafting of the regulations.
Benavente said, “This [legislative task force] will not be necessary if the administration is cooperating with the federal government on the crafting of the regulations. Because it’s not, we feel it is necessary to get involved in the negotiations ourselves.”
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial, who is suing the U.S. government over the labor provisions of the immigration law, has repeatedly said that negotiation is futile at this point, since the federal takeover of local immigration is now law.
