Senate tightens rules for entry of workers

Senators yesterday put into motion a measure that will tighten requirements for submission of health certificates and police clearance by alien workers seeking entry into the CNMI.

Under a proposed bill they approved ahead of a congressional oversight hearing scheduled for next month, nonresidents who wish to seek employment in the Northern Marianas must secure these requirements from a list of US-approved hospitals, clinics and agencies from their country of origin.

The legislation is part of the reform measures which local officials want to put in place in a bid to block attempts in the U.S. Congress to strip local authority over labor and immigration .

It also came as swift reaction to a recommendation from Manase Mansur, chief aide to House Resources Committee Chairman Don Young (R-Alaska), to adopt a policy similar to the pre-screening conducted by U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.

But senators fine-tuned the bill offered by Senate Floor Leader Pete P. Reyes by amending some of the provisions to head off possible misinterpretation in the future as well as to provide flexibility to the CNMI in drawing up the list.

“It is part of the reform measures that we are doing. It is something that Mr. Mansur supports as necessary,” Reyes told reporters during a break at the session yesterday.

He also said it would provide “integrity” to CNMI’s control of its immigration policies, which have been blamed for the influx of guest workers, mostly from the Philippines, China and Bangladesh.

Under Senate Bill 11-153, the local Department of Labor and Immigration will draw up the list of clinics, hospitals and other agencies from which potential workers could secure health certificates.

This list must include all those already approved by the State Department, the Department of Justice and INS “for comparable purposes” and others that may be sanctioned by federal officials.

Flexibility sought: While the move is intended to lessen fraudulent health certificate and boost criminal background checks obtained in foreign countries, lawmakers hope to relax the restrictions to consider other “credible” sources.

“In the event that we find out that is not workable, we want to make sure that employees who are recruited for CNMI will have alternative measures,” Reyes explained, “and that is requiring (DOLI to have) the authority to add on the list hospitals that we think are responsive to our needs.”

He also pointed out this process of securing clearance is just one of the many requirements that an alien will have to produce when applying for a CNMI entry or worker permit.

“Once the certificate is issued, that is not necessarily a license to enter to the CNMI to work… They could be rejected at the point of entry if they don’t have all the documents required such as the health certificate,” said the senator.

Reyes, however, clarified the proposal does not cover renewals of work permits issued to foreign workers already on the island, but only those newly-hired workers seeking entry into the Commonwealth.

The measure, which now heads to the House of Representatives for action, was broached during a meeting early this week between members of the Legislature and Mansur, who was visiting the island in preparation for the scheduled Sept. 16 oversight hearing in Washington D.C.

The hearing is expected to discuss federal assistance in enforcing labor and immigrations laws in the Northern Marianas, which is under the jurisdiction of the House Resources Committee.