CW petitions breach 11,000-mark

 Despite the low-number scare in early November, the number of foreign workers being petitioned by their employers for Commonwealth-only worker status has now breached the 11,000-mark-a key indicator of the CNMI’s current need for foreign labor. At one point, there were some 30,000 foreign workers in the CNMI.

As of Friday, Dec. 9, the number of foreign workers being petitioned for CW status reached 11,019. This is over 82 percent of the 13,399 estimated “potentially eligible” for CW status, based on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Sept. 7 final rule.

Of the total 11,019 petitioned alien workers for CW status so far, 9,920 are on Saipan, 739 are on Tinian, and 360 are on Rota.

Marie Thérèse Sebrechts, regional media manager at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said yesterday that USCIS California Service Center had data entered 5,380 I-129CW petitions as of Dec. 9.

“The petitions were filed by approximately 1,900 different employers. A total of 11,019 CW1 workers are sponsored on these petitions,” she said.

USCIS also released yesterday a question-and-answer guideline for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens and certain “stateless individuals” seeking to apply for a parole that, if granted, would allow them to lawfully remain in the CNMI until Dec. 31, 2012. (See Page 8)

Josie Reyes, processing agent at Sunflower Marketing Corp., an accounting and document handling services firm, said yesterday that most of the clients they assisted in filing CW petitions have already received notices of receipt of petitions.

“We are confident that they will all be granted. We followed the instructions properly and hopefully none will be denied,” said Reyes, who attended one of USCIS’ sessions on how to file a Form I-129CW.

Form I-129CW is the form used by an employer to petition an alien to temporarily work as a nonimmigrant in the CNMI as a CW-1 transitional worker.

Reyes said the CW petitions they filed covered at least 92 foreign workers. She said they filed the petitions between Nov. 18 and Nov. 28, a critical deadline.

Those whose petitions are filed after Nov. 28 are not supposed to start working until they have received a grant of CW status. These foreign nationals should also be in a “lawful immigration status in the CNMI” even if the worker is not currently employed. A “lawful immigration status” can mean having valid parole.

USCIS saw a surge in the number of filings on or toward the Nov. 28 deadline. Hundreds crowded the post office in Chalan Kanoa for the CW filings, as well as for requests for humanitarian parole, mostly among those who were not able to find a new employer before their umbrella permits expired on Nov. 27.

Press secretary Angel Demapan, when asked for comment, said yesterday that the latest number of alien workers petitioned for CW status is a “more realistic figure than the preliminary numbers that were released.”

“The figures indicate that there is still a decent demand for skilled foreign workers, but more so, that there are still many companies that are braving the economic challenges and making positive contributions to the local economy,” he told Saipan Tribune.

‘Foregone conclusion’

Rep. Ray Yumul (R-Saipan) said yesterday the latest figure shows that the CNMI is still dependent on foreign workers “and it’s not going to change anytime soon. That’s just the reality.”

Yumul, a former Ways and Means Committee chair, said it’s going to be difficult to let go of these many skilled foreign workers to help fuel the economy by the end of the transition period on Dec. 31, 2014.

“So it’s a foregone conclusion that the transition would be extended by five years,” he said, unless there’s a dramatic change in the way residents are trained and educated to fill the void that will be left if the number of foreign workers is brought down to “zero” by the end of 2014.

Other government officials have long said they would push for the extension of the transition period beyond 2014.

The transition period allows for an orderly transition and gives individuals time to identify an appropriate visa classification under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

The Saipan Chamber of Commerce also earlier said that the number of foreign workers petitioned is the figure that the weak economy can hire or absorb right now. DHS put an over 22,000 cap on the annual number of transitional workers.

Both the business sector and the government also expressed concern over those foreign workers who are still in the CNMI but couldn’t find employment because of the down economy.

Many of these unemployed aliens have already applied for parole with USCIS even before USCIS announced the availability of a one-year parole for eligible aliens. Those eligible for this type of parole are covered by Delegate Gregorio Kilili Sablan’s (Ind-MP) H.R. 1466, which seeks a grant of CNMI-only resident status to four groups of aliens.

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial’s administration is “tentatively” planning to file a motion for preliminary injunction against USCIS’ decision to grant parole for most of those covered by HR 1466. These include immediate relatives of U.S. citizens and certain stateless individuals. The governor said many of these eligible for parole could be a “burden” to the CNMI and would still compete for jobs with the local population.

While USCIS reported that there have been CW petitions rejected, it has yet to release data on denials and approvals.

Sebrechts said yesterday that USCIS won’t have approval/denial data “until after biometrics.”