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Legislature OKs federalization task force
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Posted on Nov 07 2008
The Senate has adopted a joint resolution with the House of Representatives calling for the creation of a task force that will serve as the Legislature’s liaison on immigration federalization issues.
All of the senators, except Sen. Jude Hofschneider, who was absent from the Thursday session, voted in favor of the resolution. They said the Legislature must get involved in the crafting of the new immigration regulations, which will be go into effect in less than seven months.
According to the resolution, the Legislature wants “to be an informed participant, in collaboration with concerned public and private entities, in the development of [U.S. Public Law] 110-229 regulations at they pertain to the CNMI.”
The resolution requires the Senate president and the House speaker to appoint members to the task force. The task force should get organized within five days of the resolution becoming adopted by both houses of the Legislature. Its job will be to conduct public hearings, make official inquiries on federalization, and keep the Legislature informed of any development in the drafting of the regulations.
Private sector organizations such as the Saipan Chamber of Commerce and the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands formed similar committees even before the federalization effort became law, in a bid to ensure that local employers will continue to have access to needed foreign workers under the new labor and immigration system.
Meanwhile, the Fitial administration has shunned efforts to negotiate with the U.S. government on the pending federal takeover of the Commonwealth’s labor and immigration. Gov. Benigno R. Fitial, who is suing the federal government over the labor provisions of the immigration act, has repeatedly stated that the time is gone for negotiation.
