‘Delay federalization to 2010’

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial will ask the U.S. House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife to support extending the effective date of the federalization law by as much as one year or up to November 2010. He wants the delay until the CNMI gets a visa waiver for Russian and Chinese tourists and all needed facilities and personnel are in place, among other things.

The start of transition to federal immigration law is now set for Nov. 28, 2009, after Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano approved a 180-day delay from June 1, 2009, as allowed by law.

Fitial left yesterday to testify at a hearing in Washington, D.C. at 10am on Tuesday (Wednesday on Saipan) before the Subcommittee chaired by Guam Delegate Madeleine Bordallo regarding the implementation of Public Law 110-229 or the federalization law.

The governor is accompanied by his special counsel, Howard Willens, according to press secretary Charles Reyes Jr.

Lt. Gov. Eloy Inos is acting governor for the first time since he was sworn into office as the CNMI’s first non-elected lieutenant governor.

Fitial, in a statement, said he plans to emphasize concerns with the implementation of the federalization law and its effects on businesses, potential new investors, foreign workers, and local residents.

He said he is going to detail concerns with the Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver Program regulations and the readiness of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to implement the law on Nov. 28 this year.

“I will ask the Subcommittee to support a legislative extension of the effective date of the law—perhaps for as much as one year,” he said.

But groups of guest workers who are holding a 72-hour peaceful assembly starting this morning are opposed to a further delay in the start of transition to federal immigration. (See sidebar)

The groups want U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to recommend to the U.S. Congress to permit guest workers lawfully residing in the CNMI to apply for long-term immigration status as stated in the provisions of the federalization law.

“We are against additional delay. We think that the 180 days of delay is enough time for DHS [Department of Homeland Security] to issue regulations and prepare for federalization,” United Workers Movement NMI president Raby Syed told Saipan Tribune yesterday.

Syed said one of the reasons why the economy is in shambles is uncertainty over federalization. He added that the CNMI Department of Labor has been issuing regulations and policies that are unfair to guest workers.

“Investors don’t invest until federalization is in place. There will be jobs here for local residents. And the CNMI Department of Labor is issuing new regulations that give more workers a hard time. For example, they are now charging $50 for extension request. Workers don’t have jobs and now they need to pay more,” Syed said.

He reiterated the worker groups’ call for “improved immigration status for all.”

Fitial cited two major reasons for asking for a further delay in federalization: to allow the CNMI to continue accepting Chinese and Russian tourists and to ensure DHS has the facilities and personnel in place before the law is implemented.

“First, an extension is required so that the Subcommittee can find ways to direct the Department of Homeland Security to revise its visa waiver regulations so that the Commonwealth can continue its efforts to develop the China and Russia tourist markets. The need for revision of these regulations is clear,” said Fitial.

He said DHS has failed to implement the law in a manner consistent with the legislative intent, and has substantially underestimated the damage to the CNMI economy if the islands’ access to those markets is terminated.

The Fitial administration said in FY 2008, arrivals from China and Russia accounted for approximately 10 percent of the total visitor arrivals and contributed about $56 million in direct economic impact and $185 million in indirect economic impact annually.

“Considering the significant economic impact involved, any interrupted access by visitors from PRC and Russia to the Commonwealth would have a devastating and long-standing effect on our economy and people,” Fitial told Pacific mayors last week.

The governor, in his statement over the weekend, also said the economic analysis DHS relied on is seriously flawed.

“Second, an extension is required so that the Subcommittee can be confident that the Department will have the facilities and personnel in place by Nov. 28, 2009,” Fitial said.

In his two-page statement, the governor said DHS advised Congress in January that it needed about $97 million to implement the law in the CNMI.

This is 10 times larger than what DHS told Congress in 2007 when the legislation was under consideration.

“We do not know whether the new administration agrees with this estimate. We are asking the Subcommittee to find out,” Fitial said.

The CNMI’s immigration laws will be completely preempted as of Nov. 28.

Fitial said if the federal government is not fully prepared by this date, it presents a “serious national security risk for the people of the Commonwealth and the United States.”

The governor said the Subcommittee and the people of the Commonwealth are entitled to know exactly how much Fiscal Year 2009 funding has been spent to prepare for the implementation of federalization, how much more will be expended in the remaining months of FY 2009, and whether DHS is depending in part on funding being sought for FY 2010, “buried somewhere in the Department’s request for $55.1 billion.”

“Let me be clear. If the federal government cannot put in place facilities and personnel that can track each person entering and leaving the Commonwealth—which the CNMI is currently equipped to do and the federal authorities have never been able to do—the effective date of the law should be extended until they have this capability,” Fitial said.

The governor also said he is confident that, with the support of the other witnesses at the hearing, and with the support of Delegate Greg “Kilili” C. Sablan, the CNMI will be able to secure the extension of the effective date of federalization.

Sablan’s office could not be immediately reached for comment.