CNMI awaits money for Tinian operations

Funds from a reimbursement by the federal government on expenditures incurred from detaining and repatriating illegal Chinese immigrants will be reinstated to the operational budget of departments and agencies involved in the Tinian operations.

Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio said he has yet to check the Department of Finance to find out if the payment amounting to $754,000 from the U.S. Department of Interior has arrived, although he said federal officials assured him the money would be sent upon signing of the agreement.

“We are supposed to get it anytime now,” he told reporters yesterday, adding the payment will be sent through telegraphic transfer.

The island government earlier had protested the wordings of the initial draft of the memorandum of agreement which converted the reimbursement to federal grants, but Washington changed them to facilitate release of the funds.

According to Tenorio, the money will be restored to the original account which the administration tapped to assist federal authorities in dealing with the more than 600 undocumented aliens sent to Tinian between April to September.

The bulk of the CNMI funds were sourced from the Department of Labor and Immigration’s account intended for deportation of alien workers, forcing it to halt a relief program for stranded workers that provides cash compensation and free return ticket for their repatriation.

“(The reimbursement) will be used for the operations of (DOLI’s) deportation fund. Some of the money that we used came from the operations of the department, so some of the money will be used by that particular department,” said the governor.

As for private vendors that provided services to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, such as restaurants on Tinian, Tenorio said they have been all paid out.

“I was advised that INS people are already taking care of all those accounts. Unless we (receive) any invoice or charges from Tinian (establishments) supposedly were part of the operations,” he added.

The government is expected to send this week a new set of billings and charges amounting to more than $100,000 to Washington to reimburse expenses for the last batch of Chinese immigrants who left the island last month.

CNMI, which controls its own immigration, had agreed to assist the White House in accommodating the wave of boat people attempting to enter Guam in an effort to deal with the worsening immigration crisis on the neighboring island.