{"id":387037,"date":"2023-03-10T06:05:37","date_gmt":"2023-03-09T20:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=387037"},"modified":"2023-03-10T06:05:37","modified_gmt":"2023-03-09T20:05:37","slug":"touchback-rule-worries-employers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/touchback-rule-worries-employers\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Touchback\u2019 rule worries employers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s Note: This is part of a series of special reports that Saipan Tribune will be featuring every Friday this month, focusing on the \u201ctouchback\u201d provision. The series will examine the rule\u2019s impact on employers, affected workers, and the CNMI economy.<\/em><\/p>\n

Part I<\/strong><\/p>\n

Manpower agency EFG Pacific Holdings LLC stands to lose half of the workers it supplies to many businesses in the CNMI by the start of the next fiscal year when the touchback rule comes into effect.<\/p>\n

EFG Pacific Holdings LLC owner Eden Ordas said that Oct. 1, 2023, will be a \u201cchallenging time\u201d for CNMI businesses that employ CNMI-Only Transitional Workers who have to exit the islands because of U.S. Citizenship in Immigration Services\u2019 touchback requirement.<\/p>\n

Under the rule, foreign workers with \u201cCW\u201d work visas must leave the CNMI for at least 30 days after two renewals of their CW-1 visa classification.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe touchback rule is a very big challenge for me as a manpower agency. I believe that 50% of my total manpower agency will be affected,\u201d said Ordas, who employs around 200 workers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Workers of Hong Ye Construction work on the sewerline along Beach Road in front of Joeten Center Building 1 in Susupe. (MARK RABAGO)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

EFG Pacific Holdings is a lynchpin of many businesses in the CNMI that uses CW workers; the manpower agency supplies cooks, waitstaff, bartenders, bakers, general repair and maintenance staff, among others to various industries in the CNMI.<\/p>\n

\u201cCompanies hiring CWs are in a bind because they can\u2019t really play the waiting game. In the case of the touchback rule, you can\u2019t petition affected CWs until they\u2019ve exited the CNMI for 30 days,\u201d said Ordas.<\/p>\n

And don\u2019t expect the touchback CW worker to be back on the islands soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our own experience, there are some instances where CW permits were approved relatively quickly, but there are some instances where almost a year or even more than a year has passed and the CW permits haven\u2019t been approved yet,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Aside from the challenges the touchback rule will have on the local economy, she said the requirement will also exact irreparable harm to affected CW workers themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re very much worried because they\u2019re not ready to go home because they don\u2019t have much savings. At the same time, what will they do back in their home countries? There\u2019s just a lot of uncertainties,\u201d said Ordas.<\/p>\n

P&A Corp. general manager Doyi Kim also has had sleepless nights worrying about the touchback rule since more than 20 of her company\u2019s staff will be affected by the requirement.\u00a0 She\u2019s hopeful that Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (D-MP) will be successful in his plans to pass a bill delaying its implementation by two to three years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere might be some reasons. But I think we can do something about it [delay on touchback rule]. …We still need CW workers and we can probably make some better rules. \u2026I agree that we need to control outside workers but [we\u2019re not ready for the touchback rule]. …It\u2019s not really easy to say because I don\u2019t have any alternatives,\u201d she told Saipan Tribune.<\/p>\n

If the requirement pushes through this year, P&A Corp. will be losing IT specialists, maintenance staff, and most of their housekeeping staff, Kim said.<\/p>\n

To steel themselves for the eventuality of the touchback rule, she said her company has been hiring new employees lately.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been preparing since two years ago. We hired some new CWs and we\u2019re trying to search from the local worker pool. I am interviewing as much as possible but I am very worried because most of the employees [that will have to leave] are the most important ones for the company,\u201d said Kim, who admits she prefers hiring direct employees rather than relying on manpower agencies.<\/p>\n

Currently, P&A Corp. is looking for electrical engineers and construction engineers. It operates CK Smokehouse, Marianas Meat Harvesting Co., International Roller Skates, among other businesses on Saipan.<\/p>\n

Lindsey Ahn, the corporate social responsibility manager for E-Land Group, said the company that owns Kensington Hotel Saipan, Coral Ocean Resort Saipan, and Pacific Islands Club Saipan shares local businesses\u2019 collective angst with the upcoming implementation of the touchback rule.<\/p>\n

\u201cSame as other companies, we are affected by the touchback issue. We are already trying to send some employees back to their home countries step by step to avoid the big shock coming this October,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Chow Time owner Anna Liza Alcantara admits she tears up whenever she thinks about the touchback rule as three of her employees will be affected.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re all sad because they have families to feed and children they send to school in their home countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aside from the future of her staff and their families, she\u2019s also worried about what will happen to the CNMI.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not reasonable because if all of your staff is affected by touchback what will you do? Will you just close your company? Also, how will the government make up [for] the taxes companies pay when these companies are no longer operating because they have to close down due to the lack of staff?\u201d asked Alcantara, who supports Sablan\u2019s bill to delay the touchback rule.<\/p>\n

The owner of a company that operates a wholesale and grocery store on Saipan, who wants to remain anonymous, said the touchback rule is a significant concern for his business.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur CW-1 workers are skilled and essential to our daily operations, and their departure could create a significant gap in our workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n

The businessman also believes that Sablan\u2019s bill to postpone the touchback provision only kicks the can down the road and would just be a Band-Aid solution for the CNMI\u2019s labor woes.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome employers may support the bill as it would provide more time to prepare and transition to the new labor market conditions, while others may oppose it, seeing it as a delay that would not address the underlying issues of the touchback policy. Ultimately, the decision on the touchback policy and any proposed bills will be up to the relevant authorities and policymakers.\u201d<\/p>\n

He, however, is hopeful that both the CNMI government and USCIS will take into account the implications of the touchback policy on small businesses and offer assistance to minimize its unfavorable consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo address this matter, one feasible resolution is to introduce something similar to the H.R. 560, which grants a CNMI-Only permanent residency pathway to CW-1 workers who have been in the CNMI for an extended period and have established roots. It is crucial to also include those who are not qualified with the H.R. 560 and other newly arrived CWs affected by the touchback rule and provide them with CNMI long-term residency,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

This would ensure stability and certainty for both workers and businesses and aid in alleviating the labor shortage effects caused by the touchback policy, according to the unnamed businessman.<\/p>\n

Saipan Chamber of Commerce president Joe Guerrero, during his presentation in the recent Economic Forum, batted for a more sensible approach to solving the CNMI\u2019s labor problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Chamber is pro-CNMI labor and we should have a pro-CNMI pro labor policy that builds up our local workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n

While he supports efforts by the Northern Marianas College and the Northern Marianas Technical Institute as well as the Department of Labor to grow the local workforce, Guerrero acknowledges that the CNMI continues to need foreign workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur policy should include, and we should not ignore, that we do need a nonimmigrant worker program that is sensible and effective for growth, one that has local input and perhaps co-managed by the CNMI government rather than a one-sided program determined by the federal government. Unless we resolve our labor situation, it\u2019s doubtful that we will ever achieve meaningful economic progress in the next few years,\u201d said Guerrero.<\/p>\n

At the same Economic Forum, Hotel Association of the NMI chair Ivan Quichocho called for the repeal of the CW touchback provision. He added that the CW cap that reduces worker numbers every year, coupled with the emigration of the local population, \u201cconstrains the local labor market and economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Workers advocate Malou Berueco said before the touchback rule is fully implemented, USCIS should consider long-term CW workers who have toiled in the CNMI even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit local shores.<\/p>\n

She said if USCIS considers CW workers who have been here before March 2020, the numbers of the workforce affected by the touchback rule will be drastically reduced, which is a win-win for both CWs affected by the requirement and local businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mere fact that up to now many CW workers affected by the touchback are still here even during the pandemic means they\u2019re the ultimate survivors,\u201d said Bereuco.<\/p>\n

Ordas also pointed out a potential humanitarian crisis if the touchback rule is implemented as the requirement will actually be separating families.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince 2015 or 2016 when this touchback rule was enacted, a lot of CWs on Saipan have had children in the CNMI who are U.S. citizens. So, tell me what will happen to these U.S. citizen minor children when their parents have to leave the CNMI because of the touchback rule? Do they have to bring their kids back home because obviously they can\u2019t leave them here because they\u2019re minors.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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