Businesses doing everything to remedy delay in CW permits

The last few days have been a trying time for many businesses in the CNMI as they push for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to approve much needed Commonwealth-only worker renewals. Saipan Tribune spoke with a few human resource managers expressing similar sentiments on the delayed process.

Hyatt Regency Saipan human resource director Josephine Mesta expressed that only a few workers are awaiting renewal but that they’ve been getting approval from USCIS since yesterday due in part to their timely submissions. Hyatt Regency is one of the few companies boasting a high percentage of the certified local workforce, which is about 74 percent, as a long-term commitment that has prevented drawbacks from CW delays.

Bridge Capital HR manager Carmen Hasselback says that only one critical employee is awaiting renewal but that the employee has been out of work for a month, a wait that is much longer than many workers whose permits expired last Dec. 31.

Triple J Enterprises HR director Frank Ada stated that they are trying to address the situation and that the company is doing everything they possibly can in the process.

Emphasizing the indefinite closure of Truong’s and other key positions in the company, Ada says, “we are talking about our skilled workers and experienced managers who are not able to earn any wages and we are hoping to get some support. We are working as hard as we can to try and get these workers back. We have stopped all workers that have expired on Dec. 31 until we get approval,” adding that roughly 50 employees are affected under Triple J Enterprises.

Saipan Chamber of Commerce president Alex Sablan states that the business community did anticipate a delay because people weren’t getting their notifications timely.

Sablan described the situation with USCIS as the perfect storm saying that U.S. immigration slowed down their process after the United States government approved a new cap of 12,999 foreign workers under the transitional worker program.

He further added that USCIS is also undergoing a filtering process to figure out a new quota as the end of the transition program in 2019 nears.

“USCIS is under a time crunch. It is our understanding that all the new developments are picking up the remaining 1,600 permits. There’s a sheer backlog at USCIS and it is understood that they’re understaffed in California. It was originally hoped that the regulation for 240 days was to be approved but it hasn’t,” he said.

The proposed regulatory amendment to the current 120-day tolling period would’ve allowed CWs to continue working past their expiration date but the amendment is still pending since May 2014.

“We feel this would be a quick fix regarding our economy. It’s affecting a lot of businesses. We’re walking into restaurants [who are understaffed] and it’s very hard on employers right now,” he said.

When asked about whether employers are doing all that they can to hire more locals to mediate the issue, he says, “in this day and age, employers are doing all they can to hire local workers and we’re seeing more [in the workforce] because of an improved economy. It’s easier and less frustrating to hire the local workforce instead of going through the CW process. For those people that want to work and are gainfully employable, they need to figure out what their interests are and need to keep trying.”

Sablan states that the impact is across the board for CNMI businesses as over 2,500 CWs await renewal, “businesses don’t hire people just to hire people. There’s a necessity that needs to be filled and they’re contributing to the company. I’m going to go out on the limb and say that the vast majority of businesses are affected by this.”

‘Great effort to hire local’
Although the CNMI Department of Labor no longer controls immigration matters anymore since the federal immigration takeover, Secretary of Labor Edith Deleon Guerrero reiterates that employers are still encouraged to go online to the USCIS website to check their status.

“We issued umbrella permits way back in 2009 to 2011 prior to transitioning into the CW visa categories under USCIS. To anticipate this, we certainly did not because we don’t control the process… [but] employers still must follow U.S. and local employment laws. There is a great effort [by employers] to recruit qualified U.S. workers and at the same time we are monitoring to make sure that entry-level work can be performed by status qualified individuals,” she said.

She adds that there’s a lot of relational communications in terms of request for evidence when employers are petitioning to hire foreign workers, illustrating that the 2,800 CWs who weren’t renewed in a timely fashion are needed to support the CNMI workforce.

“When USCIS requests for evidence for a JVA certification, we only issue certification if we can validate that there is no qualified U.S. worker,” she said.

Case in point, if an employer asks for certification of 10 JVAs for waitressing positions, and there are at least five U.S. qualified individuals available in the labor pool, CNMI Labor will only certify five JVAs to prioritize U.S. qualified individuals for hire.
The shortage of qualified U.S. workers then depends on the position, she says. The DOL is currently working with Department of Commerce to survey the current market to get a better picture of the unemployment rate and viable workers. The last survey was a broadband survey that mimics 2014 census data, which doesn’t paint a true picture of qualified workers, she adds.

Although businesses are required to comply with the employing of at least 30 percent of qualified U.S. workers, the minimum called for by CNMI State Employment laws, nothing prohibits the CNMI Department of Labor from increasing or enforcing beyond the minimum 30 percent as it is not indicative of the available U.S. workers in the labor pool.