‘Local leaders consulted on HR 1466’

Contrary to what local lawmakers are saying, Delagate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-Saipan) said he did consult with them on H.R. 1466, which seeks to grant CNMI-only resident status for limited groups of people in the CNMI.

A day after the House Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs’ hearing on Sablan’s bill and on Public Law 110-229, Sablan said he met with local lawmakers at the Legislature as recent as June 6 to discuss H.R. 1466.

“I have spoken and will continue to speak with many individuals in the Northern Mariana Islands—including legislators—about H.R. 1466 and about the many other issues before Congress. I try to seek out the opinions of as many people in the Northern Mariana Islands as I can, whatever the issue. And I would be glad to talk with anyone about this bill. I think I can show them why it’s the right thing to do, because it helps keep families together,” he said.

House Speaker Eli D. Cabrera (Rep-Saipan) last Friday criticized Sablan for not consulting with the local legislature on H.R. 1466.

“Kilili is elected by the Commonwealth and so are we [Legislature] by our constituents in our precincts. Whatever you are doing there, at least let us know because we voted for you. You get your salary from the federal government, fine. But we elected you to go there so whatever you do, let us know,” he said in an interview with the Saipan Tribune.

Cabrera also doubted the veracity of the 4,000 to 5,000 guest workers that Sablan would benefit from his bill.

“Were did Kilili get that actual information. The census is not out yet. How can we be sure that this is it?” said the speaker, adding that he doubts Congress will make an exception for nonresident workers in the CNMI when there are over 20 million illegal aliens in the U.S. mainland.

Rep. Joseph M. Palacios (Rep-Saipan), for his part, said that Sablan’s H.R. 1466 is a good law and some members of the Legislature support it.

“But you have to keep in mind that we have a lot of local folks who are jobless because of the guest workers who are taking over these jobs. As local elected leaders we still have to balance things out. We’re not saying that that we don’t appreciate [nonresident workers], believe me we do. We have workers in the past that worked for my dad and we really appreciate them. But we also have to keep in mind that we have local folks…food stamp is on the rise because we have no jobs available for them,” said Palacios.

“I’m not saying I’m not supporting it but I would say that a portion of the bill is questionable. But again it is not for me to determine [what will happen to H.R. 1466], it’s going to be up to Congress,” he added.

Sablan, a two-term CNMI delegate to Congress, said that Gov. Benigno R. Fitial probably misunderstood the intent of H.R. 1455 and what it intends to accomplish. He did, however, clarified that he and Fitial have no misunderstanding.

“He opposes the bill and I am for it because it keeps families together. The governor does misunderstand the bill. He thinks it is [an] amnesty. It’s not. He thinks it covers illegals. It doesn’t. I think it was clear at the hearing that no one shared the governor’s views,” said Sablan.

What’s next after Friday’s hearing? Sablan said he would continue to meet with other members of Congress to educate them about the legislation and to gather additional support for the bill.

If H.R. 1466 hurdles the House, he said there’s no telling how it will fare in the Senate.

“We have been meeting with members of the Senate as well as the House to discuss the importance of H.R. 1466 to the affected individuals and to the Northern Mariana Islands. Senate staff helped to draft the bill. But most members of the House of Representatives will tell you that there is no way to predict what our friends in the Senate will do.”

Senate President Paul A. Manglona (Rep-Rota), meanwhile, wants Congress to amend Public Law 110-229 to extend the employment authorization grandfather provision from two years after the transition program’s effective date of 2009 to three years after the effective date.

“This will give employers and employees more time to adjust to the new regulations that will become effective on Nov. 28, 2011,” said the Rota lawmaker in his written testimony to the subcommittee.

Manglona said that extending the employment authorization grandfather provision would allow existing nonresident workers to continue working in the CNMI under umbrella permit conditions for one more year or until Nov. 28, 2012.

Manglona also took jabs at the CNRA, saying that the law, along other things, created a freeze on new investments due to the uncertainty of foreign investors’ status under the law.

“This has led to a stifling of economic growth and reduced government revenues by the millions. The CNRA [also] resulted in the displacement of over 70 CNMI immigration employees and further caused the CNMI government to lose approximately $5 million in revenue collected each year from nonresident worker fees beginning fiscal year 2010,” he said.

Human rights advocate and former Rota public school teacher Wendy Doromal attended the public hearing and said she was appalled that no one discussed or even asked about what will happen to nonresident workers excluded from Sablan’s H.R. 1466.

“It was chilling that no one who spoke at the hearing even mentioned the plight of the 12,000 legal, nonresident workers who are excluded from this bill because they have no U.S. citizen family member. They too have families that will be torn apart; they too are faced with adversity,” she said.

Doromal said it was her impression that this particular group of alien workers was thrown completely under the bus by members of the subcommittee.

“It must be because the CNMI government and these members of the U.S. Congress regard them primarily as labor units rather than as people. It is extremely upsetting that a member of Congress can argue passionately about keeping families together, but only certain families—those with a U.S. citizen spouse or child,” she said.

On Saipan, United Workers Movement-NMI president Rabby Syed said more than 50 people attended their monitoring of the proceedings starting 12am beside the Department of Homeland Security office at the TSL Plaza.

Although the live streaming over the Internet wasn’t “really smooth,” he said they still managed to follow the public hearing.

Syed said they appreciate what Sablan’s H.R. 1466 will do for some nonresident workers. However, he said their group does not support it because a far too significant number of alien workers will not benefit from it.

He said his group wants Congress to instead consider recommendations made by the Department of the Interior, which provides green cards and a pathway to U.S. citizenship for long-term nonresident workers in the CNMI.