$1.8M from 12,000 CW applications remitted to NMI

Acting governor Eloy S. Inos said yesterday that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ total remittance to the CNMI government is now around $1.8 million, bringing to some 12,000 the number of foreign workers petitioned for a Commonwealth-only worker status since early October 2011.

Employers pay $150 in education funding fee for each foreign worker they petition for a CW status as required by U.S. Public Law 110-229, which placed CNMI immigration under federal control on Oct. 28, 2009.

“The total remittance is now about $1.8 million as of Thursday. We got an additional $200,000 from the last time we released information,” Inos told Saipan Tribune in an interview at the public viewing for Emerita Relata Romero’s body at Kristo Rai Church in Garapan yesterday afternoon.

The last time USCIS released information on the number of CW petitions received was in mid-December, saying that as of Dec. 9, there were 11,019 alien workers petitioned for CW status. That number corresponds to over $1.65 million in education funding fee.

Inos, who oversees government finances, said that with the $1.8 million received from USCIS so far, that means there are already 12,000 CW petitions filed.

Money collected from the CW petition filings is supposed to be used by the CNMI to train U.S. workers who will fill the void left by foreign workers who have left or will leave the Commonwealth. Most private sector jobs are held by foreign workers, while government jobs are mostly held by U.S. workers.

Specifically, the funds will go to the Public School System and Northern Marianas College to help with their vocational education and training programs and boost the local labor pool. The CNMI’s fiscal year 2012 budget also requires at least $500,000 of the CW education funding fee to go to PSS.

Inos said the Public School System has yet to provide a spending plan to the administration, thus no money can be released to PSS out of the CW account.

“We didn’t give them a timeline. If they need the money for that purpose, they’re going to give us a spending plan. We cannot use the money for anything else. The cash is not mingled,” Inos added.

Education Commissioner Rita Sablan has yet to respond to media questions whether PSS is now working on such a spending plan.

Rep. Ray Yumul (R-Saipan), who introduced a bill that would help direct the use of CW education funding fee, said he hopes that the money will be used for its intended purpose. He also said that the money is subject to auditing.

USCIS was not able to meet its self-imposed Jan. 31, 2012, deadline to adjudicate all CW petitions filed on or before Nov. 28, 2011. USCIS has also not released data as to how many CW petitions have been approved and denied so far.