Despite being islands, both the CNMI and Guam also have individuals with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status, according to a visiting law professor.<\/p>\n
Rose Cuison Villazor, a professor at the University of California at Davis School of Law, said that she spoke with some lawyers on Saipan three years ago who informed her about some people who applied for DACA.<\/p>\n
She does not know if these people are still in the CNMI, but Villazor said her understanding was that those DACA applications were filed.<\/p>\n
The subject of DACA, President Donald Trump\u2019s travel ban, and U.S. immigration law were Wednesday\u2019s focus in the ongoing four-day Pacific Judicial biennial conference at the Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan\u2019s Hibiscus Hall.<\/p>\n
Created by the Obama administration in 2012, DACA, an immigration policy, allowed some individuals who entered the country as minors, and had either entered or remained in the country illegally, to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and to be eligible for a work permit. <\/p>\n
Saying it is unconstitutional, the Trump administration rescinded DACA this month.<\/p>\n
As of 2017, approximately 800 individuals were enrolled in the DACA program\u2014colloquially referred to as Dreamers.<\/p>\n
In an interview after her presentation on Wednesday, Villazor said that immigration law is one of the most significant areas of law right now. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt affects millions of people in the United States. It is important to know about the travel ban and DACA,\u201d said Villazor, who was set to talk about sanctuary cities at the PJC conference yesterday.<\/p>\n
The professor said that most of the PJC participants\u2014judges, justices, and lawyers\u2014know the legal issues but it is always good to get a refresher and to know \u201cwhere we are right now with the development of these important cases.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said that DACA and the guest worker issues here in the CNMI are part of a bigger immigration picture.<\/p>\n
Villazor, who described the U.S. immigration system as broken, said: \u201cWe have a law that was passed in 1952 and has been amended many times.\u201d What is needed, she said, is comprehensive immigration reform that will also address the status of long-term guest workers in the CNMI.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I talked about DACA, it was about the context of the revocation and how that impacted all people in the United States, to include five territories, including the CNMI,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Villazor said the revocation of DACA means that if affected individuals are not able to renew their status within the allocated time, they will become unauthorized. <\/p>\n
Villazor grew up on Saipan and graduated at Mt. Carmel School. After college, she went back to Mt. Carmel to teach, then went to law school. Since becoming a law professor, she has come back to Saipan twice to teach the CNMI Judiciary\u2019s pre-law program.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is always great to be able to come back and see families and friends and contribute to the legal discussions here in the CNMI,\u201d Villazor said.<\/p>\n
It was the first time for Villazor to serve as a speaker at the PJC conference. \u201cI am really grateful for the opportunity to be here. I am honored to participate in this conference,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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