Kilili vows to work harder to get immigration bills passed

Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan vowed to do what he can to help pass three immigration bills that are critically important to the CNMI and its local economy.

He said U.S. Congress is not in session at this time and therefore there has been no activity on any of the bills that would extend for five years the bar on applications for asylum from the Northern Mariana Islands, the exemption for Guam and the Northern Marianas from the national numerical cap on H visas, and the E-2C visa for investors grandfathered in from the Commonwealth’s immigration laws.

“Let me say that we got 15 days in the year and got three bills that are set up for this whole thing and trying to get the schedule off now is another thing. There are many other bills and we are competing for floor time, but I need to get back and go back in session on Nov. 12 and I need to go back and work some more and work harder,” he told Saipan Tribune during Saturday’s Men’s Walk Against Domestic Violence.

While there are administrative options, Sablan said the best option is always to change legislative language.

“We’re not there but we’re very close and being close doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re there. As we speak, our congressional office is working with other congressional offices and communicating with the leaders who set the agenda,” he said.

Sablan, who is running for a fourth term in Congress as the CNMI’s non-voting delegate, said he will continue to monitor the progress of the immigration bills concerning the islands.

“Three bills already in motion and any one of them is going to get to the finish line. I don’t know the agenda and what comes to the floor in Congress and I am not in a group of members, but that doesn’t mean that we’re not doing everything that we can and they are informed that this is a time-critical issue and [we] need to continue to push.”

Acting press secretary Ivan Blanco said the administration is working closely with Sablan and the Department of Homeland Security to move the bills forward or find administrative remedies to address these immigration issues.

E-2C investors are those who were allowed to remain in the CNMI under E-2C status even with a minimum investment of $50,000 instead of $150,000, but that would only be allowed until the end of this year.

After 2014, these investors will be required to obtain another U.S. immigrant or nonimmigrant visa classification.

As of Jan. 6, 2014, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services records show that there are 261 E-2 or E-2C investors in the CNMI.