Kilili looks at concerns raised on HR 1466 to move it forward

Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) said yesterday he has agreed to look at the concerns raised on his bill seeking a grant of CNMI-only resident status to four groups of nonresidents, and will work to reach an agreement “that will move the bill forward,” even as Gov. Benigno R. Fitial prepares an alternative bill he said he will ask Sablan to introduce.

Sablan’s H.R. 1466 is no longer expected to be acted on before the U.S. House of Representatives goes on Christmas break after its removal from the calendar.

“A concern was raised about the bill at the last minute,” Sablan told Saipan Tribune yesterday. “So, at the request of Chairman Doc Hastings, I agreed to look at the concern raised and see how we can respond. Over the next couple of days we will be working to reach an agreement that will move the bill forward.”

Hastings (R-WA) is chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources.

Sablan did not elaborate what these specific concerns were.

However, Fitial, in his letter to congressional staffer Curtis Rhyne and Paul Teller, executive director for the U.S. House Republican Study Committee, enumerated his specific concerns.

Fitial, who is actively blocking HR 1466, said his efforts resulted in the removal of the bill from calendar.

He said Sablan’s bill will impact over 10,000 people, but Sablan’s office said the actual figure is much lower than Fitial’s estimate.

The governor insists that HR 1466 is an amnesty bill, but Sablan said it’s not. Fitial said those covered by the bill will continue to compete with the local labor pool. Fitial said the bill’s passage would only set a “dangerous precedent that would set the stage for more demands, more amnesty and less integrity in the U.S. immigration system.”

Those who are expected to benefit from HR 1466-including now unemployed long-term foreign workers with minor U.S. citizen children-are caught in the political crossfire in Congress.

Violy Dawana, 53, said yesterday she continues to hope that HR 1466 will be eventually passed by Congress. She said all she and her 15-year-old U.S. citizen son want is for her to be able to stay in the CNMI at least until her son graduates from high school.

“My son intends to join the U.S. Air Force. By then, I would be ready to go home if there’s really no job available here for me,” Dawana told Saipan Tribune.

Dawana came to Saipan in 1989 to work as a sewer for garment factories that manufactured international brands such as Levi’s, Gap, Guess, and Abercrombie & Fitch. When the garment industry completely pulled out from Saipan, she moved to other jobs until the economy got worst and she lost her employment.

She was able to secure an umbrella permit that allowed her to remain in the CNMI until Nov. 27, 2011 despite being unemployed, which also gave her more time to care for her son. She applied for a humanitarian parole around Nov. 16, but has yet to receive a decision from USCIS.

“I’m nervous. I may have made some mistakes in my parole application. But I haven’t heard from USCIS,” she said, adding that she’s aiming for the one-year parole that USCIS announced during Thanksgiving.

This new type of parole, if granted, will allow most of those covered by HR 1466 like Dawana to lawfully remain in the CNMI until Dec. 31, 2012.

“If I’m given one more year, I will really strive to find a new job and get my employment authorization. My son is still in ninth grade. I want him to be able to finish his high school. I have worked so many years in the CNMI and raised a family here. It would be hard for the family to break apart so all we ask is to be given a chance for me to be able to stay here and let my son finish high school,” she added.

Dawana is just one of the hundreds or maybe thousands relying on HR 1466’s passage.

Sablan’s HR 1466 proposes a “CNMI-only resident status” for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens as of May 8, 2008 and continuing to be on the islands, CNMI permanent residents, those born in the CNMI between Jan. 1, 1974 and Jan. 9, 1978, and the spouses, parents or children of U.S. citizens under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Rabby Syed, president of United Workers Movement-NMI, said yesterday that those covered by HR 1466 should not lose hope.

He said removal from calendar does not mean defeat of the bill, but would give more time to have the bill fixed.

Syed said this should be an opportune time as well for Sablan to include in his bill all long-term foreign workers in the CNMI.

“And I continue to request Mr. Kilili to consider a bill granting improved status-green card or pathway to citizenship-to long-term foreign workers,” he said.

He said he continues to hope that U.S. Congress will act on the Interior’s recommendation to grant improved immigration status to long-term foreign workers in the CNMI, including a grant of U.S. citizenship, permanent residence status or green card, or a status similar to those granted to Freely Associated States citizens.

Fitial, for his part, said removal of HR 1466 from calendar means “there are still ways to get it back.”

“But you’re asking me what do I do next? I’m coming up with something better than what Kilili has. An employment-based visa,” Fitial told Saipan Tribune in an interview at the Sandy Beach Homes ribbon cutting yesterday morning.

Fitial, now president again of the CNMI Republican Party, said he will give his proposed bill to Sablan because “he’s the only one representing us there.”

“I don’t have any ill-feeling against Kilili. He’s got a problem. He’s not really working and protecting his people. That’s why I told him, ‘don’t say that I don’t have a heart for people. I do have a heart for people.’ This heart now belongs to the people who trusted me to serve them,” he said.

Fitial said he will wait “until it’s very clear that 1466 will not be entertained” before he gives his proposal to Sablan.

When asked whether he would also consider supporting HR 1466 if Sablan addresses his concerns on the bill, Fitial said “sure.”

“You know my concern. I don’t want these pregnant mothers who came here and deliver babies and wait for Kilili’s bill to become reality. Those are the groups that I will never support because they are burdens. You know my definition of burden-people who do not work or people who work illegally and do not contribute (not pay taxes).. PL 110-229 is intended and designed to do just that-to get rid of burdens,” he added.