CW bill heads to Trump

The U.S. Senate over the weekend unanimously passed legislation that effectively extends the CNMI-Only Transitional Worker program for another 10 years, allowing the legislation to head to U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s desk for enactment.

According to the U.S. Senate’s unofficial transcript, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) moved on the U.S. Senate floor to consider U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop’s (R-UT) H.R. 5956, or the Northern Marianas U.S. Workforce Act of 2018 for passage, which was not objected.

The U.S. Senate then proceeded to unanimously pass the legislation through voice vote. H.R .5956 had also received unanimous consent from the U.S. House of Representatives.

In a press conference last Friday, Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) said all that remains now is the signature of Trump to officially enact the legislation.

Sablan noted that in a meeting with the White House liaison two weeks prior, he remains “hopeful” that Trump would support the legislation.

“Despite the opposition of the President signing H.R. 339, he signed it into law… and I thanked him for signing [it]. So far, I am hopeful [that H.R. 5956 is signed by the President],” he said.

According to a statement from the Torres administration, the President previously assured Gov. Ralph DLG Torres that the bill would be signed “within 10 days.”

“The work we have accomplished together so far is attributed to many members in our community working with me to make our case to Congress. This will always be about advocating for the people in our villages who are actively trying to find a job in our growing economy, our small local businesses that have to make difficult choices, and families and friends who have been affected already,” Torres said in a statement. “This bill will address our community’s concerns by ensuring that there is effective wage protection for U.S. workers, an acknowledgement of our long-term guest workers, additional time to allow for the construction and progress of our islands to continue, and stronger safeguards against bad actors in our economy.”

The legislation resets the number of CW visa slots for fiscal year 2019 to 13,000 instead of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services number of 4,999 slots for the fiscal year. USCIS reportedly set the CW slots at a low number in anticipation for the CW program’s slated sunset of Dec. 31, 2019.

The CW cap would still be reduced by 500 in the next five fiscal years—from 2019 to 2023—and 1,000 until 2029. There would be 1,000 permits approved only for the first quarter of FY 2030.

The legislation also continues the bar on claims of asylum in the CNMI, which allows for the parole authority of the CNMI for Chinese tourists, which Sablan noted was about 45 percent of all arrivals to the NMI. The CNMI economy revolves around the tourism industry.

The legislation provides for better status for CW visa holders who have been continuously employed in the NMI since fiscal year 2015 by allowing their employers to apply for a CW-1 visa that is valid for three years, while also extending the transitional period to 2029, effectively extending the CW program and several other transitional programs by an additional 10 years.

Torres and Sablan both thanked Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who championed the first version of the bill through the Senate and Bishop, who introduced the new version of the bill that just passed.

‘Team effort resulted in CW1 passage’

The Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands and the Northern Marianas Business Alliance Corp. joined the private sector and the CNMI government in celebrating the passage of H.R. 5956 at the Senate last Thursday and now heads to the desk of President Trump for his signature.

“We believe that this was a matter of our economy as a whole. As such, it required the cooperation of the business community and our government in order to ensure that the prosperity of the CNMI continues for years to come,” HANMI chair Gloria Cavanagh told Saipan Tribune.

Cavanagh said the passage was an incredible accomplishment made by both the CNMI government and business sector considering the current political atmosphere in Washington D.C. HANMI has also been a supporter of NMBAC, which was established last year.

“Although it has taken longer than originally anticipated, it is an accomplishment of getting this bill through the [U.S.] Senate, then the House and back to the Senate. We remain optimistic on the final step, the signature of our President, to pass into law,” said Cavanagh.

She then thanked Murkowski, Bishop, the NMBAC leadership and its consultants—that included special assistance from DFS’ consultants, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres’ administration and staff, and the office of Delegate Gregorio Kilili Sablan (Ind-MP).

NMBAC chair Alex Sablan also thanked the administration. “NMBAC is very grateful for Gov. Torres’ leadership and with the constant support from his staff, Matt Deleon Guerrero, and Jason Osborne.

Sablan said at first they received information that nothing has been moving in the Senate. “And the CNMI is extremely lucky the Bishop-Murkowski bill moved without controversy and passed in record time.”

“We are also very grateful for chair Murkowski and chair Bishop’s leadership and management of this very important legislation to continue the upward mobility and prosperity of our CNMI economy,” he added. (With Jon Perez)