Legislators unimpressed with new takeover bill

The proposed legislation imposing U.S. immigration laws in the Northern Marianas drew mixed reactions yesterday from local lawmakers who have grown weary over relentless attempts by Washington to strip CNMI authority over its immigration and minimum wage standards.

Although they expressed opposition against the new bill introduced last Friday in the U.S. Senate, it was apparent some simply brushed off the latest in a series of measures intended to federalize commonwealth functions on the island.

U.S. Senators Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska), chair of the Senate committee that deals with island issues, and Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) have sponsored the measure that will provide full extension of the Immigration and Nationality Act to the CNMI in a bid to address problems associated with a large foreign worker population on the island.

Senate Floor Leader Pete P. Reyes considered the latest measure as a “broken record,” noting it has offered “nothing new” compared with previous proposals.

“This kind of measure continues to come back and hound us,” he told in an interview. “This is like a broken record.”

He maintained the island government has undertaken reforms in the past 18 months to try to persuade Washington against any federal takeover move, but all these efforts have apparently failed to sway U.S. legislators to its favor.

“(Murkowski’s proposal) is like a nightmare repeating itself over and over again. If the purpose is to screw up our economy, go ahead pass that bill and stop intimidating us,” the visibly irked senator said.

One of the most vocal critics against the takeover plan, Reyes raised the possibility that these fresh attempts are tinged with “racial and religious harassment” as the indigenous people are predominantly Catholics.

“We’re not strangers, we are members of the American family,” he said.

Disappointed over the proposal, House Speaker Diego T. Benavente said it has obviously relied on “outdated” records to back up the legislation despite earlier pronouncement from other members of the Congress that the Commonwealth has made strides to improve labor and immigration situation here.

“I’m looking forward to the hearing when we could provide (Murkowski) what we feel are reasons not to implement his proposal,” he said in a separate interview.

The Speaker stressed Murkowski’s counterpart in the House, Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), has given favorable rating to the local reforms when he visited the CNMI early this year.

“We will continue to do the right thing here, we will continue to do what we are doing right now,” Benavente added.

Murkowski’, considered by island leaders as one of their strong supporters in Washington, has said conditions in the Northern Marianas leave no other alternative, but to extend full U.S. immigration laws to stem abuses brought about by the huge number of guest workers here.

He, however, expressed fear over potential difficulties by federal officials to handle immigration on the island, citing the current problems facing the Immigration and Naturalization Service on the flood of illegal Chinese immigrants on Guam.

Because of this, Rep. Oscar M. Babauta questioned the intent of the bill, especially in light of Murkowski’s offer to modify the proposal so as not to affect the island economy.

“This is going to put us more in the dark,” said the chair of the House Commerce and Tourism Committee. “It is not a positive step to help the CNMI recover from the current economic crisis.”

Rep. Melvin Faisao, chair of the House Federal and Foreign Relations Committee, prodded Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio’s administration to step up information campaign, highlighting local reforms as part of the efforts to thwart any federal takeover.

“CNMI should be given more time to enforce these reforms,” he said, adding if the budget is there, island leaders must travel to Washington D.C. to lobby against the bill.