Report: 5 ways for workers to earn status

Granting permanent residency status to long-term guest workers in the CNMI would be a fitting way of saying “thank you” to these individuals who helped shaped the Commonwealth’s economy. This was one of the long-term proposals agreed to by both panels of the 902 talks that were transmitted to congressional leaders last week.

“The long-term guest workers, through their continued presence and contributions to the CNMI, are intertwined with the economic development and growth of the Commonwealth,” states the final report of the 902 consultations. “Allowing these individuals a path to lawful permanent residence would recognize their important contributions to a place many of them consider home, in some cases for more than 20 years.”

Congress, however, still needs to act on the proposals by amending the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 or Public Law 110-229, the legislation that extended federal immigration laws to the Commonwealth.

P.L. 110-229 resulted in the creation of the CNMI-Only Transitional Worker Nonimmigrant visa program, transferring the CNMI’s immigration policies to the federal government.

Giving long-term guest workers the chance to call the CNMI their permanent home would be a path to lawful residency that, in turn, would lead to U.S. citizenship.

The U.S. Department of the Interior, after reviewing the CNRA or P.L. 110-229 and consulting the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, made recommendations to both panels that it would be appropriate for Congress in “permitting lawfully admitted guest workers lawfully residing in the Commonwealth” to obtain permanent status.

The special representatives to the 902 talks—former assistant secretary for insular affairs Esther Kia’aina and CNMI Gov. Ralph DLG Torres—have fully supported possible congressional action to make long-term guest workers, including their families, eligible for lawful permanent resident status with a path to citizenship.

This could be done as part of comprehensive immigration reform, given the unique nature of the CNMI and its “immigration transition.” It could also be part of a separate legislation specifically on the CNMI’s immigration issues.

Among the possible steps that Congress could take is conferring immediate U.S. citizenship, granting of permanent resident status leading to U.S. citizenship with the five-year minimum residence spent anywhere in the U.S. or its territories, permanent resident status leading to U.S. citizenship with the five-year minimum residence spent in the CNMI, nonimmigrant status like that of citizens of the Freely Associated States—Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Republic of Palau—and the workers could live and work in the U.S. and its territories, or a nonimmigrant status like that granted to citizens of Freely Associated States and must live and work in the CNMI.

The report said DHS agrees that Congress should “seriously consider options for a more permanent status for workers and their families with significant equities in the CNMI.”

Providing permanent immigration status for long-term guest workers could be the most divisive among the recommendations made by both panels in the 902 report. A lot of foreign workers, many of whom have spent more than half of their lives in the CNMI, have been longing for an improved status even if it is CNMI-only permanent residency.

Local officials have recommended an improved status for guest workers that have been here for more than 10 years. If granted this would free them from the CW1 program, thus giving their slots to incoming personnel that would be under the transitional visa workforce.