‘Unique CNMI-US relationship will be central to the 902 Talks’

The CNMI economy is among the issues that are part of a series of consultation meetings between the CNMI government and their federal counterparts. The meetings, called Section 902 Talks, began last Feb. 26 and both the CNMI and federal panels would reconvene anytime soon for the ongoing consultations.

Section 902 under Article IX of the Covenant that established the CNMI in political union with the United States, states that both governments will hold regular consultation meetings on issues that might affect their unique relationship.

Labor, immigration, and the CNMI’s economic viability are expected to be the current focus of the talks in the wake of decisions by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on two worker visa programs used in the Commonwealth.

USCIS stopped in December last year the CNMI parole program. That decision affects spouses and immediate relatives of citizens of the Freely Associated States and spouses or IRs of U.S. citizens; parents of U.S. citizen children who are either under or over 21 years old; CNMI permanent residents, and stateless individuals. Those affected will have until June this year to transition to other U.S. visas to be legally allowed to stay on the islands.

DHS, meanwhile, declared Philippine construction workers ineligible for the H-2B visa last January. That effectively denied the CNMI access to skilled laborers from that country, at a time when the Commonwealth needs to rebuild or repair typhoon-ravaged homes and to complete several hotel projects.

Gov. Ralph DLG Torres said they are right now working on the details of the second meeting, like when and where to hold it.

“The discussion that was put forth are the issues that we have here. There’s not much detail that I can say, other than we are echoing our concerns….”

“Hopefully, at the end, there would be a final product. The same thing with what we had two years ago. That’s the first time we had a finished product. The product that was introduced to the [U.S.] House [of Representatives] is a product that says, ‘Hey, this is a product of our consultation meetings. This is our recommendations in the 902 Talks.’”

He said the 902 Talks will highlight the unique relationship between the CNMI and the United States. “I think that’s the most important part of the 902 [Talks],” which is to remind the U.S. Congress “that we are different, that our relationship with the U.S. should be taken seriously.”

He added that the report, the finished product, is not just a simple document. “It’s a binding contract and we want to make sure that we use it. Whether it is an immigration issue or [defense]…that’s the avenue that was given when we voted to be part of the U.S.”
 
Other meetings

Torres said he also met with other departments like the U.S. Department of Defense, the Department of the Interior-Office of Insular Affairs, and U.S. Department of Commerce.

He highlighted the meeting he had with U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, where they talked about private-public partnership in building infrastructure.

However, the system can’t directly apply on Saipan where private investors could come in and build new roads and they can get the money that they invested by charging toll fees. “You can’t do that on Saipan. Build and then charge toll. We have a road that’s 12 miles long and four miles wide. Everything here comes in through air or the [sea]port.”

“One of the discussions that I asked with the Secretary [Chao] is: Is there any way you could see us as different? And if we were to build a new airport, use the investment as a toll, where you charge extra for tourists or any passenger?”

“Because of that uniqueness she said: ‘Well, we’ve never done that before—passengers fees—but maybe that’s something that you may look into seriously.’ It is just so hard for us here, because we live [thousands of miles away] and I echoed this in all the meetings that I had in that trip.”