Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) announced Friday his introduction of a bill in U.S. Congress that seeks to provide a CNMI-only immigration status to long-term foreign workers\u2014called legacy workers\u2014in the CNMI.<\/p>\n
In a statement from his office, Sablan said that his H.R. 6578 would provide a CNMI-only status to long-time foreign workers in the CNMI and, ultimately, a pathway to U.S. citizenship after five years.<\/p>\n
While the bill was not readily available for Saipan Tribune\u2019s review on the U.S. Congress website, Sablan noted in his statement that the bill is intended to care for the gradual decrease in the number of available CW permits\u2014the work permits of CNMI foreign workers\u2014as the fiscal years go by.<\/p>\n
According to the recently passed Public Law 115-218, which was U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop\u2019s (R-UT) H.R. 5956, the CW-1 cap for fiscal year 2019 would start off at 13,000 and would be lowered by 500 slots annually from fiscal year 2020 to fiscal year 2022 and 1,000 annually from fiscal year 2023 to 2029, or the end of the program.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026We have to start preparing for the gradual decrease in the number of CW permits over the next 10 years,\u201d said Sablan in his statement. \u201cThe new NMI Workforce Stabilization Act [H.R. 6578] does that. It gives legacy workers permanent status so they will not need CW permits and they and their families can become full members of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the statement, H.R. 6578 would be the \u201cfirst of a series of bills\u201d Sablan plans to introduce in the upcoming 116th Congress.<\/p>\n
One such legacy worker, who prefers to be called only as Joy, welcomes the proposal.<\/p>\n
Although Sablan\u2019s statement did not specifically determine that the NMI-only status would be as a green card, Joy remains optimistic that some type of \u201cimproved status\u201d is on the way.<\/p>\n
She has worked in the NMI for 17 years. <\/p>\n
Joy never aspired for a green card or U.S. citizenship as she plans to eventually go home to the Philippines as her parents are there, but she noted that fearing for her job every year has not been not helpful.<\/p>\n
\u201c[It\u2019s good to have] assurance to continue working on Saipan while helping my family in the Philippines with a better working permit,\u201d she said. \u201cEvery year, every renewal, I fear that my job with my employer would be filled by a U.S. eligible worker or another applicant who got lucky in the CW-1 permit processing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gov. Ralph DLG Torres declined to comment on the bill, saying he wishes for more time to review the bill before providing a statement.<\/p>\n
This is not the first time an improved immigration status was proposed for the CNMI\u2019s legacy workers. The Department of the Interior\u2019s Office of Insular Affairs even recommended it. But the proposal has proven unpopular among local voters and the local government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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