With the CNMI\u2019s population dropping precipitously based on the 2020 census, Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (D-MP) has introduced a bill that would encourage approximately 1,600 long-term foreign workers living on the islands since 2015 to remain here by offering them a permanent status.<\/p>\n
Under Sablan\u2019s H.R. 560, or the Northern Mariana Islands Population Stabilization Act that he introduced before the U.S. Congress last Thursday, 21 foreign investors in the Marianas since before 2009 could also apply for the permanent Marianas-only residents status.<\/p>\n
In his e-kilili newsletter issued over the weekend, the delegate noted that the number of people living in the Marianas dropped by 12.2% between the 2010 and 2020 U.S. census.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat means lower tax revenues for the Commonwealth government and fewer customers for our local businesses,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sablan said he introduced the legislation to counter those negative trends.<\/p>\n
According to the U.S. Census Bureau\u2019s 2020 report, the CNMI\u2019s total population went down from 53,883 in 2010 to 47,329 as of April 1, 2020, which is 6,554 fewer people or a 12.2% drop.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe population loss in our islands and resulting loss of economic viability not only hurt all of us, but also have implications for the U.S. strategic position in the Western Pacific,\u201d Sablan said.<\/p>\n
With increasing competition for dominance from China, the United States needs to be strengthening position in the region, not shrinking in significance, he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy legislation fits into that larger strategic imperative,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
It was during the time of then-president Donald Trump who signed the laws defining who are long-term workers and establishing the Marianas-only status.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With the CNMI\u2019s population dropping precipitously based on the 2020 census, Delegate Gregorio Kilili C….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":384312,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-384311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}