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Kilili to seek hearings on federalization law
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Posted on Jan 21 2009
CNMI Delegate Gregorio “Kilili” Sablan said he intends to ask the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee to hold hearings on Public Law 110-229, commonly known as the federalization law.
Under P.L. 110-229, U.S. immigration laws will apply to the CNMI. Unless delayed, the law will go into effect June 1.
“We need to receive reports on the status of all issues pertaining to the federalized immigration system for the Northern Mariana Islands. It is important that Congress is kept fully informed on this issue,” Sablan said in an e-mail.
Sablan was recently named to the House Natural Resources Committee, which oversees the insular areas. He will be joining Nick Rahall, chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, and Donna Christensen, the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs. Both shepherded the legislation changing the CNMI’s immigration system.
“Serving on the committee is the best way to continue to forge a much improved federal-Commonwealth relationship,” the congressman said. “The committee, through chairwoman Donna Christensen’s Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, has the primary jurisdiction in Congress to set federal policy for the territories and commonwealths, including the Northern Mariana Islands. It is very important that my office get involved in all these policies.”
Federalization is law now, and the CNMI must work with the U.S. federal government to ensure that the system works for the Commonwealth in the long term, he said.
“We must move forward in this respect,” Sablan added. “I will work with Chairman Rahall, Chairwoman Christensen and federal agencies to ensure that the law is carried out to benefit us all in the long term. There will obviously be some adjustments that everyone will have to make in the interim, but we must all move forward so that all parties fully benefit from this in the end.”
Right now, he said, many people see federalization as a harm to the local economy, but, if properly implemented, it could be good for the CNMI.
“There will be more stability and certainty for employers and employees. We will, we hope, be less reliant on foreign workers—but will be given the freedom to hire foreign workers when we need them,” he added.
