‘Parole for those covered by HR 1466’

Delegate Gregorio Kilili Sablan (Ind-MP) asked U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Wednesday in Washington, D.C. to grant parole to individuals covered by his H.R. 1466 and who would otherwise have to leave the CNMI after Nov. 27.

At the same time, former Rota teacher and now Florida-based human rights activist Wendy Doromal said during the weekend that there’s a slim chance that HR 1466 will pass before year ends and “a slim possibility that a true champion of the foreign workers will introduce legislation that would grant permanent residency” to long-term foreign workers in the CNMI.

After meeting with Napolitano, Sablan also met with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services director Alejandro Mayorkas on Thursday.

“I reiterated my request on behalf of all U.S. citizens whose family members may have to leave the Marianas in November unless granted parole by USCIS. Parole would be an interim status until my bill, H.R.1466, can win passage in the House and Senate and be enacted into law by the President,” Sablan said in a statement over the weekend.

Napolitano and Mayorkas were at the Capitol to discuss immigration with the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, respectively.

“I thanked both officials for the outreach efforts of the USCIS team in the Northern Marianas, which briefed over 4,000 individuals in 50 different group meetings on the new Commonwealth-Only Transitional Worker Regulations,” Sablan added.

Sablan’s HR 1466 seeks to grant CNMI-only resident status for four groups of people: 1. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens as of May 8, 2008 and continuing to be on the islands; 2. CNMI permanent residents; 3. Those born in the CNMI between Jan. 1, 1974 and Jan. 9, 1978; and 4. The spouses or children, “as defined in section 101(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(b)(1)), of an alien described in subclauses (I) or (II).”

The bill has already passed the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee and now heads for action by the full U.S. House of Representatives.

But Sablan doesn’t think that his bill will become law by Nov. 27, when nonresidents need to have a federal transitional or other immigration status, or they could face deportation unless they are granted parole or parole in place.

Rene Reyes, president of Marianas Advocates for Humanitarian Affairs Ltd. or Mahal, said nothing stops those covered by HR 1466 from applying for humanitarian parole in place.

Reyes attended the Micronesian Legal Services’ parole in place workshop at American Memorial Park, as well as the information caravan hosted by the Philippine Consulate General yesterday afternoon.

He said that one of the things that caught his attention at the MLSC workshop is the sample letter requesting humanitarian parole in place, which include cases when a foreigner is among those covered in HR 1466.

“But as MLSC said, it’s discretionary, on case-by-case basis, and would depend on USCIS. So if they are covered in HR 1466, and they would want to try to apply for humanitarian parole, then they should,” he said.

Doromal wrote a message to foreign workers in the CNMI with her assessment of the immigration situation based on her last three trips to Washington, D.C. in June, July, and last week.

In her visit last week, she was accompanied by United Workers Movement-NMI president Rabby Syed.

“The outlook is bleak, but I will keep trying until the last foreign worker leaves,” Doromal told Saipan Tribune.

Doromal also gave permission to quote statements from her blog Unheard No More, available on unheardnomore.blogspot.com.

In her message to workers, she said she’s “deeply ashamed of how my country has and continues to treat you.”

“Please know that there are people who care about all of you and there are officials who are trying to help all of you to achieve justice. …Advocating for the CNMI’s foreign workers has always been a privilege and honor for me,” she said.

Doromal brought up with federal officials the urgent need for legislation to grant permanent residency status to the estimated 16,000 legal, long-term foreign workers of the CNMI. She said the estimate is now lower.

She asked that either HR 1466 be amended to include an additional category of all long-term (five or more years) legal, aliens representing the 12,000 “who were callously omitted from the bill, or to introduce a new bill to include all legal, long-term foreign workers.”

She also presented problems and concerns with the transitional Commonwealth-only worker program, and asked that the U.S. government ensure that victims of wage theft receive justice.

She also brought up questions concerning the Nov. 27, 2011, deadline and the plight of the workers who have no “home” to return to after devoting so many years to working legally in the CNMI.

“Finally, I want you to know that I stand with you whether your choice is to remain hopeful, to return to your homeland, or to stay in the CNMI—in or out of status. I stand with you whether you decide to take to the streets, to appeal to officials in letters or petitions, or to remain silent. I stand with those with a foreign born child or spouse, those with a U.S. citizen child or spouse, those who are gay and those who are single. I remain in awe of your courage, strength and dignity under such stressful and uncertain circumstances. You are truly deserving of praise and admiration. You will always have mine,” she said.