‘Unacceptable limbo situation’

In his written testimony, Gov. Benigno R. Fitial excoriated the failed promises of the law that federalized the Commonwealth during a public hearing held early this morning in Washington, D.C.

Saipan Tribune obtained yesterday a copy of the governor’s testimony where he said “the uncertainty created by [the Consolidated Natural Resources Act] has created an unacceptable limbo situation that has severely hampered new investment and has created morale problems throughout our community.”

Specifically, Fitial scored Congress for its failure to grant visa waivers, failure to deport illegal aliens, failure to monitor the exit of tourists, and failure to provide the CNMI with useful reports.

Speaking before the House Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs, Fitial said businesses have already lost their investments and others are expected to close if promises made when the law that placed CNMI immigration under federal control is not fully implemented.

“It is time for the subcommittee to consider the overall implementation of PL 110-229 and its impact on the 30,000 United States citizens living in the Commonwealth. Based on what we have experienced over the past three years, this law is being implemented to reshape—and substantially hurt—the Commonwealth’s economy and community.”

In particular, Fitial said the implementation of the CNRA operates to reduce the political authority of the Commonwealth’s local government in ways that would not be tolerated in the counties and states on the mainland.

“By doing so, it harms the indigenous elements in the CNMI population—namely, the Chamorro and Carolinian people—who gave up their land and sovereignty in return for U.S. citizenship and the opportunity to enjoy the political freedoms and economic opportunities available to all U.S. citizens,” he said.

Fitial said the CNMI has no objection to federal control of immigration if it is done efficiently and effectively as Congress had intended.

“What has happened instead is that Title 7 of Public Law 110-229 has brought to the Commonwealth all of the very serious immigration problems that exist on the mainland. We have many illegal aliens who are not being deported—although one of the clearly stated goals of the federalization law was to reduce alien workers who could not obtain a standard federal visa to zero within a few years,” he said.

Some of these “illegal aliens,” Fitial contend, are employed illegally and take jobs away from U.S. citizens. Others, he added, are unemployed and survive on government benefits that provide an incentive not to leave the Commonwealth.

“Particularly since federal authority came into effect, the Commonwealth has had an increased inflow of tourists and others who entered on a temporary basis but remain illegally in the CNMI, hoping for access to amnesty that will provide a green card. The burden on CNMI taxpayers related to illegal and unemployed aliens is heavy,” he said.

Fitial argued that the Commonwealth, with only 30,000 U.S. citizens—about 16,000 of them registered voters—is enormously burdened by these failures, which have complicated the islands’ efforts to address its continued economic decline.