Status of CNMI permanent residents remains in limbo

Victoria Dalit, 81, has worked most of her adult life on Saipan since 1975 and is among those foreigners who were granted a so-called “CNMI permanent resident status” in 1985.

Unfortunately, the federal government does not recognize that status, so three years after the federal government took over the CNMI immigration system, Dalit and others like here remain in limbo, with no clear resolution of what will happen to them.

Worse, it appears as if the federal government is depending on natural attrition to solve this immigration conundrum. Dalit said that many like her have already passed away, are now near death, or have already left the islands without being granted an immigration status under federal law.

Three years after the federal government took over CNMI immigration, these “CNMI permanent residents” are still waiting for a solution that goes beyond a federal grant of “parole.”

“It hurts that we’re left out. What hurts more is that three years after federalization, we are still left out. Right now, I’m just relying on my parole,” Dalit told Saipan Tribune in an interview at the Office on Aging yesterday.

She said she applied for and was granted “parole” by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, but it’s valid for only a certain period of time, is not valid for employment, and does not permit her to travel freely in and out of the CNMI.

“In my age, I’m already 81, I should not be worrying about my immigration status but because we’re not given any, I still worry about it. I feel we are being neglected. Can somebody do something?” she asked.

Another elderly at the Office on Aging said that back in the early ‘80s, there were some 300 of them with CNMI permanent resident status, but that number today is only about 100 or less.

“Many of us with CNMI permanent resident status already died or are very old now,” said the elderly, who requested that his name be not published at this time.

They said they are thankful for Delegate Gregorio Kilili Sablan’s (Ind-MP) H.R. 1466, which seeks to grant them status to remain in the CNMI, but the bill is still pending and may not even pass.

HR 1466 proposes a “CNMI-only resident status” for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens as of May 8, 2008, and continuing to be on the islands; CNMI permanent residents; those born in the CNMI between Jan. 1, 1974 and Jan. 9, 1978; and the spouses, parents or children of U.S. citizens under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Kazunori Ikeda, 42, said yesterday that his father passed away on Saturday at the age of 69 without getting any help about his immigration status.

Ikeda said that what concerns him most is that perhaps CNMI government officials are not even aware that people like him and his deceased father with so-called CNMI permanent resident status exist in their midst and are now still in limbo.

“Maybe if they know, they have already forgotten about us. I feel that the same government who gave us permanent resident status has abandoned and neglected us. I think that it is the CNMI’s responsibility to do something about it by recommending to the federal government to give us a permanent status,” he said.

Ikeda came to Saipan with his family in 1975 when he was only 6 years old. He said his parents and he all got CNMI permanent resident status.

“We have been raised and lived here for a long time. But are CNMI officials aware of us? And if they are aware of us, what are they doing about it to help us get a status? We’re not talking about 10,000 people. We are talking about maybe 100 people now, because many have already passed away just like my father,” he said.

While USCIS grants “parole” to certain groups of people like CNMI permanent residents, Ikeda said that this is only valid for a certain period of time, needs to be renewed and cannot be used to go in and out of the CNMI. For those like him, they have to pay a lot of money to be able to return to the CNMI after a temporary exit.

Just like Dalit, Ikeda hopes that the Fitial administration will “do something” to help them.

Press secretary Angel Demapan, when asked for comment yesterday, said, “Although this matter was never brought to the attention of the administration, we only know as much as is reported recently.”

“Based on what is known and recognizing the concerns of those affected, the Fitial administration, or the Commonwealth for that matter, does not have the flexibility to implement any specific type of immigration status. This is exactly why Gov. Fitial adamantly opposed federalization—U.S. Public Law 110-229—even taking it to the courts in an attempt to block implementation of the law in the CNMI,” Demapan told Saipan Tribune.

He said the governor still disagrees with PL 110-229 and still believes that local control of immigration is a key component to the Covenant’s promise of self-government.

The Covenant establishes the political relationship between the U.S. and the Northern Marianas.

“But although Gov. Fitial exhausted all options to stave off federalization of our immigration control, the consequences and the impact on those once considered ‘permanent residents’ is the result of a Democrat-controlled United States Congress, the very same group that our current delegate proudly claims to caucus with,” Demapan said.

He said the Fitial administration maintains that PL 110-229 should be repealed and control of local immigration be rightfully returned to the Commonwealth.

“The governor remains hopeful that with the high possibility of Republicans taking control of the U.S. Senate in this year’s national elections, the Commonwealth will be better poised to rally the support of both house of the U.S. Congress to repeal the most devastating law ever implemented in the CNMI,” Demapan added.

Fitial and Sablan do not see eye to eye on a host of issues. Dalit and Ikeda hope that the two officials will set aside their politics and help those like them who are left out in the federalization law.

Ikeda, in a recent letter to the editor, said that as far as he knows, “none of our local government people have taken any actions on this.”

“My opinion is that they don’t know about this kind of people who the CNMI immigration or government granted status. Then after more than three decades, these people are now considered an alien under the U.S. law. Isn’t this irresponsible treatment of people who speak, eat, live, blend, contribute, and etc. to our community? Since no one is speaking up, I had to bring this up. Hope whoever this may concern, I think it’s about time you should do something about these people of the CNMI,” he said.