There is hope!

I’ve been searching for a very good reason why we should stand up, look straight ahead, and keep believing that there is still hope, that the Department of Homeland Security will open its door and remove the barrier that prevents us from having permanent residency on the islands, besides the fact that this has been home for a lot of foreign workers and the future of their families as well.

President Obama believes that America’s broken immigration system can only be fixed by putting politics aside and offering a complete solution to secure the border, enforce laws and reaffirm its heritage as a nation of immigrants (www.whitehouse.com/issues/immigration). He believes that U.S. immigration policy should be driven by the best judgment of what is in the economic interest of the United States and what is of the best interest of American workers. But he also recognizes that an orderly, controlled border and an immigration system designed to meet the country’s economic needs are important pillars of a healthy and robust economy. In the CNMI, there is economic need because it involves the need for foreign skilled workers.

President Obama promised to fix the dysfunctional immigration bureaucracy and enable legal immigration so that families stay together. He will also remove incentives to enter the country illegally by preventing employers from hiring undocumented workers and enforce the law. He is also supporting the system that allow undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, learn English, and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens.

Fellow foreign workers, let us examine ourselves in view of the impending implementation of PL 110-229 that was initially scheduled to take effect on June 1, 2009 but was extended for 180 days to Nov. 28, 2009. Aren’t we alien workers with legal status to remain on the islands? The law says an alien is a person who comes from a foreign country. Any alien who violates the term of his/her admission may be deemed out of status. Becoming out of status occurs when a nonimmigrant remains in the United States beyond the expiration date of their visa or when a nonimmigrant engages in employment in the United States for which he/she is not authorized. A person who overstays a nonimmigrant visa should be properly described as an illegal alien. By law the illegal alien must leave the country in order to apply through the proper immigration procedure.

President Obama supports an immigration system that allows undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine and go back to the line for the opportunity to become a citizen—an indication that the door is open for all long term foreign workers to be lawfully admitted as residents of the CNMI.

There are advantages for employers if all foreign workers are admitted as residents of CNMI after long years of continued employment because they will not spend a lot of money for the processing of H visas to maintain the same number of employee on current status. Do we have time to go back to the end of the line after 10 years or more of continued service on U.S. soil? Isn’t it but appropriate for Homeland Security to consider us as aliens with legal status and with good standing, contributing to the economic needs of the islands? We deserve to be regarded and rewarded as foreign workers with good standing and/or immigrant alien because we are legally admitted as guest workers.

Section 6 of PL 110-229 or the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 (CNRA 2008) states that the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Office of CNMI Governor, shall report to Congress no later than two years after the enactment of CNRA 2008 on:

* The number of aliens residing in the CNMI;

* The description of the legal status of such aliens;

* The number of years each aliens has been residing in the Commonwealth;

* The current and future requirement of the Commonwealth economy for an alien workforce; and

* Such recommendation to the Congress, as the Secretary may deem appropriate, related to whether or not Congress should consider permitting lawfully admitted guest workers lawfully residing in the Commonwealth on such enactment date to apply for long-term status under the immigration and nationality laws of the United States.

“No later that two years.” It could be possible for the Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Homeland Security and the Office of the Governor to report earlier because foreign workers have been in the CNMI for almost two decades. That length of stay is enough for the Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Homeland Security and the Office of the Governor to decide and report on these.

What if they amend PL 110-229 and extend its implementation for another 180 days from Nov. 28, 2009? Our length of stay and service on U.S. soil (in the CNMI) have already exceeded the required number of years to be able to apply as immigrants or legal permanent residents on U.S. soil. There is hope, let them hear us!