Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) warned yesterday against the \u201cdisastrous\u201d immigration policies touted by Republican presidential candidates Sen. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, saying that neither of them would likely change their positions to accommodate the Northern Marianas if elected to the White House.<\/p>\n
Trump and Cruz this week called for an end to the U.S. visa waiver program in the wake of terror attacks in Brussels, Belgium that left 31 dead and 250 wounded.<\/p>\n
Trump, who also has earned the personal endorsement of Gov. Ralph DLG Torres, has called for temporary ban on all Muslins into the U.S. after the Paris attacks in last November and again after attacks in San Bernardino, California in December. He also wants to build a security wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese terrorist attacks [in Brussels] are horrific,\u201d Sablan told Saipan Tribune yesterday. \u201cWe pray for the victims and their families, and for the swift apprehension of all those who were involved in the planning and execution of these monstrous acts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut shutting down our borders is not the answer,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd what these Republican presidential frontrunners have proposed to do in terms of immigration policy would be disastrous for the Northern Marianas\u2014for tourism as well as labor\u201d and would \u201calso adversely affect our nation\u2019s relationships with countries that are our friends and allies.\u201d <\/p>\n
Sablan also pointed out that the CNMI\u2019s Chinese and Russian visitors are admitted to the Northern Marianas\u2014not through the visa waiver program\u2014but through the parole authority of the Secretary of Homeland Security.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich is completely at the discretion of the secretary and can be revoked at any time,\u201d Sablan added.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Mr. Trump or Senator Cruz is elected President neither would be likely to alter his national immigration agenda just to accommodate the Northern Marianas,\u201d Sablan said. <\/p>\n
\u201cSecretary [Hilary] Clinton, on the other hand, is both very well-informed about the issues in our region and committed to continuing the immigration policies established under the Obama administration, if she is elected president.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sablan has publicly endorsed former secretary of state Clinton to be next president of the U.S.<\/p>\n
Torres endorsed Trump earlier this month with the local Republican party following suit, casting 343 votes for Trump in the winner-take-all local GOP caucus last March 15, to help Trump overwhelmingly claim the CNMI\u2019s nine delegates. <\/p>\n
Fox News reported Trump\u2019s and Cruz\u2019s renewed call to end the visa waiver program on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
In 2009, the secretary of Homeland Security exercised discretionary authority to parole into the CNMI visitors for business or pleasure who are nationals of the Russian Federation and the People\u2019s Republic of China. <\/p>\n
The Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2009 tasked Homeland Security to create a list of any countries from which the CNMI had received a \u201csignificant economic benefit\u201d from the number of visitors for pleasure within the year preceding enactment of the law. <\/p>\n
The department determined that the People\u2019s Republic of China (PRC) and Russia meet this economic threshold.<\/p>\n
Parole is authorized on a case-by-case basis only for entry into the CNMI and does not extend to other areas of the United States.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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