Emergency regs seek cap on alien worker numbers

With President Bush expected to sign the CNMI immigration bill into law, the Department of Labor has drafted emergency regulations that will effectively cap the number of alien workers in the Commonwealth.

A draft of the public notice of emergency regulations, a copy of which the Saipan Tribune obtained yesterday, amends Chapters 3 and 6 of Public Law 15-108 that came into effect just this February.

The goal and objective of the emergency regulations is to “require that the number of alien workers in the Commonwealth on the effective date of these regulations not be exceeded during the period of 12 to 18 months after the effective date of these regulations.”

This would be achieved, according to the draft, by implementing a system for monitoring departing alien workers present in the CNMI as well as arriving alien workers on the regulations’ effective date, “so that the Commonwealth can ensure that the number of alien workers present in the Commonwealth on the effective date of these regulations not be exceeded.”

To this end, Labor will publish each month on its website the names of alien workers who have permanently departed the CNMI as well as the names of alien workers who have entered the Commonwealth.

“The department will not allow entry of ‘alien workers’ in a number that exceeds the number who have departed,” the draft added.

The draft of emergency regulations said businesses could still hire alien workers under three circumstances—through replacements, a point system, and lottery.

It said that a company who has been in business for at last three years and repatriates an alien worker may use the slot, provided it would be filled within 90 days of the alien worker’s departure.

Businesses can also take advantage of a point system that gives companies credit for their years of operation, employment of U.S. citizens or permanent resident workers, each dollar above the minimum wage set for jobs, and for providing Labor with a reasonably accurate forecast of their need for alien workers, among others.

Labor can also conduct a lottery for approximately 10 percent of the available slots each month. The lottery will be limited to small companies (fewer than five workers) that have been in business for fewer than three years and have at least 20 percent citizen and permanent residents in its workforce.

The proposed amendment to PL 15-108 defines “alien workers” as those persons admitted into the CNMI in immigration classifications 706A, 706B, 706D, 706F, 706I, 706J, 706K, 706L, 706M, 706N, and 706P.

It, however, does not classify as alien workers “persons who enter the Commonwealth as tourists, students, immediate relative not permitted to work, or for investment purposes.”

Aside from chapters 3 and 6, all provisions of P.L. 15-108 along with the Commonwealth’s Employment Rules and Regulations remain in full force and effect, the draft stated.