Gov. Ralph DLG Torres maintains that he has always been an advocate for providing a more permanent status to long-time workers in the CNMI.<\/p>\n
In an interview yesterday, Torres maintained that he has always advocated for providing long-term status to CW-1 workers who have been in the CNMI for many years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen people ask me if I am in support [of long-term status for CW-1 workers], obviously I have been in support since Day 1,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Torres pointed out that that has been his stance since his days in the Legislature.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been making those strides already since Day 1\u2026 It is documented [several] years ago, so it is [not] news that I am an advocate for long-term status,\u201d he said, adding that he previously proposed Senate documentation proposing to give long-term status to foreign workers in the NMI.<\/p>\n
Torres penned during his tenure as a senator a 365-page document on the CNMI Senate\u2019s position then on providing long-term status to long-time workers in the CNMI. The recommendation was published on March 2011. The document was submitted to the U.S. Congress then.<\/p>\n
Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP), in a letter dated Aug. 1, 2018, solicited the support of Torres for his H.R. 6578, which aims to provide a Marianas-only long-term status to CW-1 permit holders who have held such a permit since 2015. Sablan\u2019s proposal contains a pathways to U.S. permanent residency.<\/p>\n
When asked whether he would support the bill or not, Torres stated that he would do \u201cwhatever it takes to continue\u201d supporting long-term status for CW-1 workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have always been in support of long-term status. I would be working with other [U.S. congressmen] as well as the Republic Party because it is a Republican leadership,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Senate President Arnold I. Palacios (R-Saipan), who is the running mate of Torres for lieutenant governor, said that Sablan himself noted in his letter to Torres that the bill\u2019s passage through the current Congress is slim.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll work with whoever is the delegate to make sure that happens\u2026 We submitted our recommendation to the U.S. President under the 902 agreement, which was then submitted to the U.S. Congress [then]. Had it been acted on two years ago, we wouldn\u2019t be talking about it today, but it is what it is and, at the end of the day, the governor and I are certainly in support of\u2026alleviating labor shortage issues,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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