Hearing set on FAS migration bill

A public hearing will be held on a proposed legislation seeking to change the open migration policy on citizens of the Freely Associated States entering the CNMI which is viewed as an attempt to deal with growing strain on public funds and infrastructure.

The town meeting comes on the heels of mounting support for the proposal from government agencies that have expressed concern on the impact of unrestrained entry of FAS citizens on the limited resources of the island.

Rep. Melvin Faisao, sponsor of the bill pending before the House of Representatives, said the hearing is necessary to gather inputs from the people on potential implication of the proposal on existing laws as well as CNMI relations with other Micronesian islands.

The first in the series of fact-finding meetings will be conducted on March 15 at the Multipurpose Building in Susupe, beginning at 7 p.m. Other hearings will also be held this month on Rota and Tinian, according to Faisao.

“We hope to broaden our review of the bill by asking the public to come out and comment on the proposal before we tackle it on the floor,” he said.

The House committee on Federal and Foreign Relations as well as the Labor and Immigration Committee are currently deliberating on House Bill 11-294 filed last year by Faisao.

This is the first attempt of the CNMI government to restrict the migration of nationals from the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau and Marshalls, which together form the FAS group whose population here has increased in recent years.

While the government has no official figure on the their number, at least 4,000 FAS citizens are estimated to have taken up residency on the island.

Under Faisao’s proposal, a mechanism will be set up by the government to limit the stay of FAS citizens on the CNMI to those habitual residents who are either employed or attending school full-time.

This will amend the policy of allowing them to freely enter into any U.S. territories or states as provided under the Compact of Free Association forged with Washington in 1986.

The CNMI, as well as Guam and Hawaii, have said hosting FAS citizens has strained limited infrastructure, such as schools, hospitals and public housing, costing millions of dollars in expenditures that have yet to be reimbursed by Washington despite its earlier pledges.

The agreement on the financial assistance to FAS is scheduled to be re-negotiated later this year, but wealthier Pacific islands have raised fear that a reduction in the aid to their neighbors may spark influx of more migrants into the territories.

The Indigenous Affairs Office, the Northern Marianas Housing Corporation, the Northern Marianas College, the Attorney General’s Office and the Department of Commerce have agreed to the plan to restrict FAS migration.