HR 1466 gets US House panel nod

Delegate Gregorio Kilili Sablan’s bill proposing a CNMI-only resident status for four groups of people now heads to the full U.S. House of Representatives for voting following the Natural Resources Committee’s approval on Wednesday, a development hailed by many in the community.

During markup, the committee agreed by unanimous consent to send Sablan’s H.R. 1466 to the House floor for passage.

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial hopes, however, that the full body “will reject the legislation,” said press secretary Angel Demapan.

Fitial testified against Sablan’s H.R. 1466 in July in Washington, D.C.

“Although it has received the nod of the committee, the governor is hopeful that the full body will reject the legislation in consideration of the concerns of the local government and the indigenous community,” Demapan said.

Sablan, in a phone interview after the House committee’s passage of HR 1466, said “it’s still a long way” but the committee passage of the measure is a good start.

“I don’t think this bill will become law before Nov. 27 but today’s action by the committee was important. It now moves forward,” Sablan said.

HR 1466 still has to be passed by the full U.S. House of Representatives and then by the U.S. Senate before it gets to President Barack Obama for action.

As of yesterday, Sablan said there’s no telling when the U.S. House will vote on his bill. “Like I said, it’s still a long way. I will continue to work on this.”

HR 1466 would allow persons born in the Northern Marianas between 1974 and 1978, persons given permanent resident status under CNMI law, and their family members to continue to live and work in the Marianas.

The bill also permits immediate family members of U.S. citizens to remain in the Marianas until they can adjust their status under U.S. immigration law.

“Only persons who entered the Northern Marianas legally and remain legally present qualify under the bill. No amnesty is provided anyone who does not have legal status,” Sablan said in a separate statement.

Sablan said the committee markup started at 10am Wednesday in Washington, D.C. but HR 1466 wasn’t approved until about 4pm.

John Imperial, 35, said he’s happy that the committee approved Sablan’s bill. “It’s giving us renewed hope. I hope that the U.S. Congress will pass it too,” he said.

Imperial, a nonresident cook on Saipan for 20 years, is one of thousands of immediate relatives of U.S. citizens in the CNMI covered by Sablan’s bill. He said his four children are between 2 and 14 years old.

He said while his employer will file a petition for a Commonwealth-only worker status for him, he said there’s still no guarantee that his job won’t be given to a qualified U.S. worker.

“But I won’t let my family broken apart. If I lose my job by Nov. 27 and I have to go home, I will bring all my children with me. Sablan’s bill is a good one because it will help many, but if it won’t become law by Nov. 27, a lot of those it could help may already lose their status and leave the CNMI,” Imperial said.

Malou Berueco, a guest worker advocate, said HR 1466’s committee passage “is one step forward” and hopes for its passage by the full Congress.

She said when she attended a recent peaceful rally of U.S citizen children with nonresident parents, she realized that HR1466 “doesn’t intend to protect the guest workers who are parents of the U.S. citizen children, but rather, was created and introduced to protect these children.”

“Please don’t break these children’s dream of living and studying in CNMI with their parents with them, nor try to make them choose between staying here in CNMI without their parents or live with them in a place they never considered home… They [children] want to stay here simply because CNMI is the only place they call home,” she said.

HR 1466 proposes a “CNMI-only resident status” for these four groups:

1. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens as of May 8, 2008 and continuing to be on the islands;

2. CNMI permanent residents;

3. Those born in the CNMI between Jan. 1, 1974 and Jan. 9, 1978; and

4. The spouses or children, “as defined in section 101(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(b)(1)), of an alien described in subclauses (I) or (II).”

Senate Vice President Jude Hofschneider (R-Tinian), chairman of the Committee on Federal Relations and Independent Agencies, said he’s glad that the committee approved the CNMI delegate’s HR 1466 and is now headed to the full House for voting.

Hofschneider said while he’d rather see Congress act on the CNMI Senate’s recommendation to grant long-term workers in the CNMI a status similar to those granted to Freely Associated States citizens, Sablan’s bill is a “good start.”

Bonifacio Sagana, president of Dekada Movement, said he’s thankful for the committee passage of HR 1466 to keep families intact.

“What’s important is that students with foreign parents will be protected by their parents. Most of these students are honor students. While I wish improved status for all, I can’t ignore the needs of children,” Sagana said.