Review visa waiver program, put off federalization—Fitial

Gov. Benigno Fitial has formally asked newly appointed Department of Homeland Security officials to review the interim final rules for the joint Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver program and put off the start of federalization by 180 days.

In a letter to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, Fitial said he believes the visa waiver regulations deserve further review.

“We believe that substantial questions of law and policy are raised by these regulations and that they therefore qualify for reconsideration by the newly appointed officials of the Department under the Jan. 20, 2009 directive,” Fitial wrote.

On Jan. 20, newly-sworn in President Barack Obama ordered a freeze on all proposed regulations not yet published in the Federal Register so they could undergo further review. The visa waiver rules, which left out China and Russia— two emerging tourism markets for the CNMI—were published Jan. 16.

If a delay in the implementation of Public Law 116-229 on June 1 is granted, it will allow newly appointed officials a chance to review two other regulations important to the Commonwealth—regulations regarding the CNMI foreign investor visa waiver program and the hiring of foreign workers during the transition period of the program.

“We look forward to working with DHS officials regarding these regulations before they are issued to the public for comment,” Fitial said. “The department and the Commonwealth share a common interest in providing sufficient time for careful review of the regulations by all interested parties and in issuing the regulations sufficiently in advance of their effective date so that the necessary preparations can be made by government officials and the affected private concerns and individuals.”

Another reason a delay is necessary, Fitial said, is because it will allow time for DHS to establish the necessary ports of entry.

“The Commonwealth supports an extension to ensure that its borders remain under the strict controls enforced by CNMI officials for the past few decades. Unless there is an extension, these officials will lose their authority on June 1, 2009, to deal with the entry of non-U.S. citizens into the CNMI under the preemption provision of the Act. The Commonwealth and its citizens deserve the assurances of the Department of Homeland Security that its assertion of authority beginning with the transition program’s effective date will be adequately funded, suitably staffed by trained personnel, and supported by an appropriate software database to register all persons who enter and leave the Commonwealth,” Fitial said.

If a delay is granted, he wants the new administration to consider hiring local CNMI immigration officers or other local residents.

“Our previous requests that CNMI immigration officers be given special consideration by the Department, as Congress expressly suggested, have not been given fair consideration by the department,” Fitial said. “A large number of our immigration officials (37 of 68) who expressed interest in positions with the department and could provide years of experience with the local community, have been rejected solely as a matter of age. Surely this new Administration can take a second look at the disqualification of these applicants and find a way to consider them on their merits and experience, rather than on the fact that they are no longer 37 years old.”

And, finally, the governor wrote, a delay will help prevent serious economic damage to the Commonwealth that will result from the loss of the Chinese and Russian tourism markets. DHS left the two countries out of the visa waiver program because of security concerns.

“An extension will provide time for the Department of Homeland Security to reexamine the extent to which the Commonwealth’s current policies and procedures with respect to the China and Russian tourist markets do in fact present any security risk that needs immediate attention. Based on the Commonwealth’s actual experience in dealing with these markets, there is no national security risk that argues against an extension of the effective date,” he wrote.

DHS must decide and notify Congress of any delay to the start of federalization by May 2.

CNMI delegate Gregorio “Kilili” Sablan has also asked Napolitano for a 180-day delay.