US Immigration now hiring

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has already announced the hiring of customs and field operation officers who will be assigned in the CNMI, but there is no special consideration to make local Immigration officers a priority, according to CNMI Immigration Director Melvin Grey.

Grey told Saipan Tribune yesterday that because of the hiring qualification criteria, less than 20 of local Immigration officers may qualify.

Grey said one of the criteria is that persons cannot occupy a law enforcement position in the federal government if they are 37 years old or older.

“Right there, that excludes 21 of our people immediately. They don’t have a chance with that criteria [sic] in place. Twenty-one of our people are automatically excluded,” he said.

The official said some local Immigration officers have been in service for 11 years, 16 years, and 21 years.

“Twenty-one years of career at Immigration out the window and they are not qualified under the federal law to be picked up. That’s incredible,” Grey said.

He said there are 72 employees at Immigration in the CNMI, including three at the U.S. Passport’s Office.

Grey said the three at the Passport’s Office will not be affected by the federalization law because the office will continue operating.

“But you have 68 officers and one admin officer that are affected by this. They’ve lost their career and the economy in the CNMI being what it is, jobs are scarce. Even within the government, it is tightening up. It is a frightful situation for these folks. Sixty-eight families now have to worry what the future is going to be,” Grey said.

The director said he received instructions and the preparation manual for the exam for the positions last Friday so he informed the Immigration staff yesterday about it through a memo.

The signing up for the test will be from Nov. 3 to 17, 2008. The testing will be on Saipan between Dec. 3 and Dec. 17, 2008.

Grey said there are indications that 60 officers will be hired for the CNMI.

He said his concern is that the procedures do not appear to be consistent with what the law says.

The director pointed out that a provision in the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 with respect to the hiring of personnel states that, “To the maximum extent practicable and consistent with the satisfactory performance of assigned duties under applicable law, the Attorney General, Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Secretary of Labor shall recruit and hire personnel from among qualified U.S. citizens and national applicants residing in the Commonwealth to serve as staff in carrying out operations…”

“Key words in this section of the law include, ‘to the maximum extent practicable.’ Being lumped into the general population of candidates does not appear to meet this maximum extent verbiage,” Grey said.

“We are very concerned because what they’ve done now with these criteria does not give us any consideration. We’re on the same boat in competing with the rest of the nations for these jobs,” he said.

“This federalization has taken 69 immigration employees and inspectors and one admin officer and put them out of a career. Their immigration career is basically over June 1st, 2009,” Grey said.