Bush signs federalization bill

President George W. Bush has signed into law the bill applying federal immigration law to the Northern Marianas and granting the Commonwealth a non-voting delegate in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The clock now starts ticking on the five federal agencies tasked to draft the regulations implementing the immigration “federalization” law. Under the new law, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security must work with the State Secretary, the Attorney General, the Labor Secretary, and the Interior Secretary to establish the transition program, which will be in effect from June 1, 2009 to Dec. 31, 2014.

Between now and June next year, local labor and immigration laws still apply to the CNMI. The NMI Labor Department, however, has already issued emergency regulations that cap the number of alien workers in the CNMI at 22,417. This means that the CNMI government will not allow an increase in the total number of alien workers who are present in the CNMI, effective immediately.

The new law also calls for a November 2008 election for the CNMI’s first delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial called the enactment of the federalization bill “the end of an era for the people and government” of the Commonwealth. He said that local immigration and labor controls helped transform the CNMI economy during the 1980s and 1990s, and raised the standard of living for local and foreign workers alike.

“I had hoped to continue using these economic tools to orchestrate an economic recovery for the CNMI, and I deeply regret that recently passed legislation may impede our local government’s ability to orchestrate an economic recovery based on sound economic incentives and competitive free market policies,” said the governor.

He said he will continue to consult with the Legislature, the private sector, and other interested stakeholders about the government’s options in dealing with federalization.

Pete A. Tenorio, the Commonwealth’s resident representative to Washington, D.C., called on local leaders to forget any plan to derail the federal government’s takeover of CNMI immigration.

Fitial in his State of the Commonwealth Address last week said that suing the U.S. government remained one of his options to stop federalization. The other two are to help draft the implementing regulations and to seek amendments to the new law.

“Let us stop the rhetoric and bury the hatchet. Let’s just get to work, show a spirit of unity,” Tenorio said.

Rep. Tina Sablan said she was relieved to hear “the good news. It is good to finally turn the page and open up a new chapter for the Commonwealth. We have before us an opportunity to reinvent ourselves, and we should seize that opportunity.”

Local businesses say they are ready to work with the federal and local governments in making sure the new system would have as little adverse impact as possible on the private sector.

The Saipan Chamber of Commerce is now forming a committee of seven members to study the new immigration law and to draft business-friendly provisions for inclusion in the implementing regulations.

“The board [of the organization] desires that the business community of the Commonwealth, through the Chamber, be well represented in any discussions with federal officials regarding these regulations, and envisions that this committee will be the group that fills this role,” Chamber president James T. Arenovski said in a letter to one of the members invited to be part of the committee.

“Although we do not yet know the extent to which the federal government will invite local participation in the regulation-drafting process, we believe that the local government will support our inclusion in negotiations whenever possible,” he added.

Lynn Knight, the chairwoman of the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands, said she is keeping hotel managers informed on the immigration issue.

“We will work with it as best as we can. We will participate in any and all efforts with drafting the regulations if given the opportunity to do so,” she said.

HANMI, along with the Marianas Visitors Authority and the CNMI Division of Immigration, has already begun meeting with their Guam counterparts to discuss the joint visa waiver program provided by the law. One of the group’s main goals is to make sure the CNMI continues to receive tourists from China and Russia.

In the U.S. Congress, members who pushed for passage of the federalization measure welcomed the president’s action.

West Virginia Rep. Nick J. Rahall, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, said the enactment of the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008, which contains the CNMI immigration and delegate provisions “ushers in a new era for the people of the CNMI—one that promises closer cooperation and greater consultation among the territory, the federal government, and the U.S. Congress.”

U.S. Virgin Islands Rep. Donna Christensen said: “Today is a historic victory for the many people of the CNMI who have been frustrated by the lack of representation in the U.S. Congress and the poor management of local immigration policy.”

California Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee who has sought reform of the CNMI’s labor and immigration laws for more than 15 years, said the federalization measure will end the “old way of doing business” that had led to the exploitation of foreign workers and had stifled the economy in the Northern Marianas.

Miller blasted jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff for blocking federalization for many years.

“Although it was clear to nearly everyone that the CNMI’s system was broken and unfair, it took a Democratic Congress to end this sordid chapter in American history. This new law responds to recommendations from the Bush Administration, the Clinton administration, the [Immigration and Naturalization Service], the Commission on Immigration Reform, human rights activists, and many others. This law will usher in a new, safer and more just era for the Northern Mariana Islands, and for the men and women who live and work there,” Miller said.