GAO documents NMI immigration reform efforts

The investigative arm of the United States Congress has documented efforts carried out by the CNMI government in reforming immigration policies to keep them in line with federal standards, brushing off claims that the Commonwealth has been lax in controlling the entry of nonresidents into the islands.
In a report released Monday, the U.S. General Accounting Office enumerated reform policies legislated and implemented by the CNMI government to control the flow of aliens and merchandise into and out of the Northern Marianas.

At the same time, while a number of joint U.S. and CNMI customs investigations that were conducted in recent years have uncovered some drug-smuggling activities, GAO said the investigations have found no evidence of diversions or transshipments.

Garment and other apparel products manufactured in the Northern Marianas account for about 99 percent of the CNMI’s exports, and containers of garments ready for export are inspected on a periodic basis.`

GAO conducted the investigation upon the request of U.S. House ranking minority member Rep. Daniel Akaka (D-Alaska), who is also in the Committee on Governmental Affairs.

The GAO investigation did not, however, include the evaluation of the effectiveness of CNMI’s customs and immigration policies, or the political ramifications of the presence of a large alien worker population on the islands.

The report mentioned pre-screening policies instituted by the Commonwealth government on the entry of prospective nonresident workers and all aliens, especially those coming from “high risk” countries, into the CNMI.

Countries that have a history of unwillingness to repatriate their nationals, as well as those that have records of fraudulent alien worker recruitment schemes, have been listed in the high risk category.

GAO cited existing policies that require nonresident workers to provide the CNMI Department of Labor and Immigration with the results of criminal background checks and health certificates before their employment papers are processed and before they are issued entry permits.

Also, the federal office mentioned an agreement which provides that law enforcement agencies in Hongkong and South Korea to provide the results of criminal background checks for prospective workers directly to DOLI.

The CNMI government is now exploring the possibility of making similar arrangements with the Philippines and China to minimize the ability of prospective foreign workers with disqualifying criminal backgrounds to alter the results of the criminal background checks.

“Alien workers are also required to bring health certificates with them to the CNMI. In addition, alien workers are required to undergo screenings at a CNMI-certified health clinic within 10 days of entering the CNMI and every year thereafter,” the GAO report said.

It also said that by manually tracking the date of entry and departure of visitors, the CNMI Immigration can identify those who have not left the CNMI. A computer system has already been identified to do the tracking which the government hopes to make operational next month.

The administration of Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio has given priority to enforcement of labor and immigration laws.

“This has led to increased enforcement activities and legislation to provide greater control over labor and immigration and to improve the conditions for aliens who work in the CNMI,” the GAO report stressed.

Nonresidents, including citizens of the Freely Associated States, accounted for 58 percent of the population of Saipan in last year, 26 percent of the Fiscal Year 1999 public health care expenditures and about 11 percent of the Public School System’s operating costs for the 1999-2000 school year.

GAO disclosed aliens accounted between 44 percent and 69 percent of the arrests for the five most frequent crimes in the CNMI — assault, burglary, criminal mischief, disturbing the peace and theft — in those years.

Still, GAO pointed out that these percentages align with the nonresidents’ proportion of the Northern Marianas population.

As expected, the Department of the Interior said the GAO report lacked the critical evaluation and analysis to determine whether the CNMI’s procedures for processing aliens and merchandise met required standards.

GAO said it has modified the report to more explicitly state that the agency’s objectives were not to evaluate the effectiveness of the Commonwealth’s immigration and customs procedures and policies.