Absence of CW-1 rules worries Torres

Four months late and with still no rules and regulations governing the implementation of Public Law 115-218, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres is pressing federal agencies to already come out with the rules on how the CNMI-Only Transitional Worker Program, or CW program, will be implemented under the new law.

President Donald Trump signed P.L. 115-218, or the Northern Mariana Islands U.S. Workforce Act of 2018, in July last year. That threw out the old rules on how the CW program will be implemented and gave U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 60 days to come out with the new law’s implementing rules and regulations. That has not happened yet and Torres has asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which governs USCIS, to help the CNMI in the publication of the implementing rules and regulations.

In a letter dated June 6, 2019, to DHS acting secretary Kevin McAleenan, Torres stated that his administration has already emphasized with USCIS that developing the regulations would be a big help to the CNMI economy

“On Sept. 18, 2018, I wrote to the U.S. DHS to provide my recommendations on the development of these important regulations for the [CNMI] economy,” said Torres in his letter. “It has been my hope that these recommendations would be helpful in designing a regulatory structure that accomplishes the goals of Public Law 115-218, while allowing for continued economic growth in the CNMI.”

In a letter to then-DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen last year, Torres recommended that 200 CW-1 permits be reserved for occupational categories like health care practitioners, technical occupations, and health care support occupations.

He also suggested that another 60 slots be saved for categories related to public utility services like water/wastewater engineers, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, and trades technicians.

However, with fiscal year 2020 just three months away, USCIS has not yet published any regulation governing the CW-1 program.

“As we move closer to the start of [fiscal year] 2020, we have been fortunate that the U.S. Department of Labor has expedited our approval of our prevailing wage data, which in turn, has allowed for companies to start submitting their temporary labor certifications,” said Torres.

“Our fear is that once they have received approvals through U.S. [Labor], they will be unable to move forward with applications for the CW-1 visa through USCIS. To ensure employers can complete the entire U.S. Labor and USCIS visa processes before Sept. 30, we urgently request USCIS to publish the regulations for CW-1 [workers] as soon as possible.”

Torres added that businesses and other employers could encounter problems without the regulations. “Absent regulations, our employers will not be able to avail of labor, and our volatile, recovering economy, which was severely impacted by Super Typhoon Yutu last October, will continue to be negatively impacted.”