CUC, 18 foreign workers agree to dismiss lawsuit

The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. and its 18 foreign workers have agreed to dismiss their lawsuit against U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Charles Johnson and other federal officials over the delay of CUC’s petitions to renew the workers’ Commonwealth-only Worker or CW-1 permits.

Plaintiffs CUC and its 18 workers and defendants Johnson, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Sarah Saldana, and U.S. Citizenship Director Leon Rodriguez filed on Friday in federal court a notice of dismissal of the lawsuit.

The parties, through their respective counsels, asked the U.S. District Court for the NMI to dismiss the lawsuit without prejudice, and with each party to pay its own costs and fees.

Dismiss without prejudice means the plaintiffs can re-file the case in the future.

Attorney James S. Sirok is counsel for plaintiffs CUC and its 18 workers. Office of Immigration Litigation trial attorney Sarah Wilson represented Johnson and co-defendants.

The parties did not specifically mention the reason in their filing of joint motion to dismiss the case.

But U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona recently expressed her intent to dismiss the lawsuit once the final rule on CW-1 permits, has gone into effect on Feb. 14, 2016.

Manglona said if CUC and its 18 foreign workers object to dismissal of their lawsuit over the delay of CUC’s petition for renewal of CW-1 permits, even in light of publication of the final rule, they may file a memorandum in opposition to dismissal.

Manglona noted that last Jan. 13, the federal government announced that the final rule “Enhancing Opportunities for H-1BI, CW-1, and E-3 Nonimmigrants and EB-1 Immigrants,” which amends the regulations so as to authorize continued employment for CW-1 nonimmigrants if a petitioner has timely filed a petition requesting an extension of stay, is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Jan. 15, 2016 and will be effective 30 days from the date of publication.

Manglona said it appears that implementation of these changes in the regulations will prevent a recurrence of the harm that CUC complains of in the lawsuit.

In plaintiffs’ response to Manglona’s order, Sirok said the conduct of the Department of Homeland Security’s implementation of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ agency rule pertaining to CW1-permits, would only serve to heighten the need for the federal court’s scrutiny and the issuance of a declaratory judgment on this issue.

Sirok asserted, among other things, that the U.S. Administrative Procedure Act allows any CW-1 worker, including the 18 workers, to continue to work until USCIS makes a final determination on that worker’s petition for renewal (extensions of status/stay).

At the time of Sirok’s filing of the response, 17 of 18 foreign workers who joined CUC’s lawsuit, have received approvals of petition for renewal of their Commonwealth-only worker, or CW-1 permits.

Last Jan. 12, Manglona ordered CUC and the 18 workers to explain why their lawsuit should not be dismissed as moot.

CUC currently employs 34 nonresident workers holding the CW-1 CNMI only non-immigrant transitional worker status.