Illegals can list up as time ticks away

Illegal nonresident workers have still two more months until June 1 to come out from hiding and register under the limited immunity grant offered by the CNMI government, according to officials.

Some of those availing the amnesty now are workers who are currently employed, but are not legally registered at the Department of Labor and Immigration.

Jeff Camacho, head of the DOLI amnesty program, said they still continue to receive applications four months after it became law in December last year.

“Right now the people getting in are those people who were registered and are given memorandum to look for an employer. They are the ones now coming in with employers and trying to be hired temporarily for one year,” he told in an interview.

Based on records of the department, there are 2,176 amnesty-seekers as of March 20, and labor and immigration officials expect the number to rise as the deadline nears.

Island leaders earlier have warned illegals that they would be dealt with the full force of the law if they continue to defy the immunity offer which has been implemented on the heels of growing pressure from Washington to reform local labor and immigration policies.

The bulk of registrants in recent weeks were Filipinos who now comprise over 1,000 applications, followed by Chinese, 884; Bangladeshis, 154; Koreans, 45; among other illegal workers in the CNMI.

“There are still a few coming in registering… and all of them were given an instruction to look for an employer,” Camacho said.

Under the law, illegals who entered the islands on or before January 1, 1998 may seek the one-time immunity from prosecution and deportation over a six-month period upon implementation by DOLI.

The measure has also imposed a fine of $300 on local employers for every illegal worker hired in exchange for immunity from possible prosecution and higher penalty.

Registrants are issued temporary work authorization to enable them to find work within 90 days, or they have an option to voluntarily leave the island as three amnesty-seekers had done, who asked DOLI to repatriate them to their country of origin.

The law is part of the reform measures implemented by the Tenorio administration to deal with growing problems on labor and immigration which have prompted some Washington officials to press for federal takeover of the CNMI.