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‘Federalization, longterm resident status initiative can go together’
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Posted on Apr 13 2008
Federalization and the initiative for longterm resident status for aliens can go hand-in-hand, according to Dekada president Stephen Woodruff.
In an interview with Saipan Tribune, Woodruff said some people have incorrectly put the LTR (longterm resident) status initiative as if it something that was opposed to federalization or an alternative to federalization.
Woodruff said some people are calling the LTR status a ploy or a ruse to block federalization.
“And that’s all nonsense,” the lawyer pointed out.
The fact of the matter is, he noted, this LTR initiative is very important regardless of whether there is or there is federalization.
If there is federalization, Woodruff said, this LTR initiative is one of the important step for the CNMI to make federalization work to smooth out the transitional process into the new system.
The initiative, he added, will provide the CNMI with a stable workforce and a fair, more just system of foreign contract labor to supplement the local workforce.
“These two things (federalization and LTR initiative) can really go hand-in-hand,” the lawyer stressed.
Woodruff said federalization and LTR are important steps toward the CNMI’s economic recovery.
The U.S. Senate passed a bill that will apply federal immigration laws to the CNMI and give the Commonwealth a non-voting House delegate.
Woodruff and some leaders and supporters of Dekada and other alien workers’ groups had recently participated in a forum and meetings on the issue of long-term resident status for aliens in the CNMI.
