Hispanic Caucus asks for 180-day delay

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is supporting CNMI delegate Gregorio “Kilili” Sablan’s request for a 180-day extension to the start date of the federalization law, saying without more preparation families of workers could be needlessly separated.

“We believe that a 180-day delay is necessary to ensure the ‘orderly’ extension of Federal Immigration law to the NMI, and to ensure that the extension of Federal Immigration law to the NMI does not result in the needless separation of families,” said CHC Chair Nydia M. Velaquez (D-NY) and CHC Immigration Task Force Chair Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) in a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

Scheduled to begin June 1, the Consolidated Natural Resources Act will extend U.S. immigration laws to the CNMI. The law allows for a delay of up to 180 days. CNMI Gov. Benigno R. Fitial, Guam Gov. Felix Camacho, Sablan, and local business groups have all asked for a delay. The CNMI and Guam legislatures also support a 180-day extension.

In February, delegate Sablan wrote a letter to Napolitano requesting the extension for three reasons: a lack of sufficient funding; delays in issuance of regulations; and the potential disruption of families.

“We support Congressman Sablan’s request for these three reasons, but would especially draw your attention to the humanitarian concerns that merit the delay,” the chairs wrote in the letter. “During the transition period, there will be new classes of non-immigrants eligible to live in the NMI, including NMI-only workers, and ‘grandfathered’ aliens who are permitted to live and work in the NMI for the duration of their NMI-issued visas.”

However, NMI-only non-immigrants will be eligible to live and work in the CNMI but will not be able to leave and re-enter the Commonwealth without a U.S. Department of State-issued visa. Sablan earlier said he was told there was no knowledge of plans to issue visas in the NMI.

“We are concerned that his means there are no plans, or, if there are plans but Homeland Security doesn’t know about them, then these plans are being made without communication with the agency that is nearly entirely responsible for regulating the classes of people for whom visas will have to be issued,” the letter stated.

Moreover, many families will be affected, they said. Immediate relatives or “IRs” of U.S. citizens may currently live, work and re-enter the Northern Marianas, but many IRs are not eligible for U.S. visas. Although under the law they will be able to stay in the CNMI for the duration of their IR permit, if they must leave at any time, they risk being separated from their families without a U.S.-issued visa, Velaquez and Gutierrez said.

Sablan, a member of the Caucus, said he is grateful for the support of the CHC’s 23 members.

“And I am confident that this group, which is so influential when it comes to immigration policy, will be listened to by Secretary Napolitano,” he said in a statement.

Last week Sablan and the other Caucus members spent an hour at the White House with President Obama confirming the President’s support for comprehensive immigration reform and discussing their overall strategy.

More time will allow him to work with DHS and the Department of State to protect families, Sablan said.

“I know there are people who say let’s just get on with it,” he said. “But we can do this ‘quick and dirty’ and watch innocent people get hurt in the process, or we can do this in an ‘orderly’ fashion, as the law requires.

“The purpose of the 180-day delay is not delay; it’s to be sure we do it right,” the Congressman added.