Gov. Ralph DLG Torres wagged his finger yesterday at the alarming and illegal practice of \u201ca few dishonest employers and developers\u201d that have deceptively shepherded or hired individuals as \u201ctourists\u201d under the visa program to work in the islands\u2019 hotels, restaurants, or construction industries.<\/p>\n
In a statement yesterday, Torres said this illegal practice would not be tolerated and must immediately stop. \u201cI am in the process of taking the necessary steps alongside our federal partners\u201d to make sure \u201cproper enforcement is carried-out here in the CNMI and to strengthen penalties where possible for those who violate federal immigration law,\u201d Torres said.<\/p>\n
Torres\u2019 reprimand comes after the administration heard reports on the tourist visa waiver abuse, Saipan Tribune learned. The administration believes in the need to work with the federal government on \u201cinformation-sharing and enforcement,\u201d a senior official close to the issue said. As they understand it, the local government cannot exactly run in or raid a business or a developer\u2019s grounds to uncover or halt alleged visa waiver abuse, as this responsibility falls in the hands of the federal government, which took back control of immigration in 2009.<\/p>\n
Saipan Chamber of Commerce president Alex Sablan said yesterday that\u2014while he could not speak for all businesses\u2014he assumed some people \u201cwant to skirt the program because they are not able to get\u201d a contract worker visa processed for an individual worker, or want to jump ahead of the process, or \u201cjump outside the box.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat they are doing is illegal, we know that,\u201d Sablan told Saipan Tribune in a phone interview. \u201cThere should be no foreign nationals coming in under the parole program process working in the Commonwealth. To have that happen, again, compromises our overall program and really compromises the economy of the CNMI. I think everybody should be concerned about this.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his statement, Torres said he would be working with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to ensure proper enforcement.<\/p>\n
Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) told Saipan Tribune that he shared Torres\u2019 concerns and would \u201cwork with him to protect the integrity of our tourism industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Federal immigration law allows thousands of tourists from participating countries under visa waiver programs to travel to the CNMI every year without a visa once various requirements are met. These tourists\u2014Chinese or Russian for example\u2014are the life-blood of the CNMI economy, which almost exclusively is based on tourism. <\/p>\n
Torres believes that using these people from these countries as workers under a tourist visa \u201ccould result in the federal government revoking or cancelling the waiver programs.\u201d \u201cShortcutting the process in favor of short-term expediency will only harm us all in the long run,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Alex Sablan echoes Torres\u2019 concerns. \u201cMy statement to all businesses that are attempting to do this is: Stop it. You stand to kill tourism in the Commonwealth, a valued sector of our Commonwealth\u2014the Chinese market and the Russian market, and we can\u2019t afford this. I applaud the governor for coming out strongly in a statement against the activity. This needs to end.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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