DOL: Employers responsible for employee repatriations

Employers who have had their recent CW-1 petitions rejected from fiscal year 2019’s lottery would have to shoulder the repatriation costs for their foreign employees, according to the CNMI Department of Labor.

Responding to a Saipan Tribune query, Labor Secretary Vicky Benavente said it is the “most current employer on record” who will be responsible for an employee whose employment is terminated.

Employers are statutorily bound by CNMI law to shoulder the repatriation costs of their foreign worker.

“To my knowledge, that statute has never been amended or repealed and therefore, remains in effect,” Benavente said, citing Section 4954(a) of the Commonwealth Code Title 3.

“For the purposes of this section, a person employing a foreign national worker without an approved employment contract or identification card or otherwise in violation of Commonwealth law may be held jointly and severally liable for repatriation costs whenever assessed,” adds the statute.

Specifically, this language opens the possibility of charging other de-facto employer with repatriation costs for illegally employing foreign workers.

A similar statement appears in the Northern Mariana Islands Administrative Code, Section 80-20.1-330(u), which also expresses a similar intent.

“The last employer of record is responsible for all of the costs of repatriation of a foreign national worker. Repatriation costs include the costs with respect to the embalming and transport of deceased workers back to the point of hire,” states a portion of the provision.

Benavente stated that the two provisions are what mandate the employer to shoulder repatriation costs of their workers who have had their CW-1 permits rejected and are required to exit the CNMI.

Saipan Tribune reached out to Benavente weeks after U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced their completion of the lottery selection of CW-1 permits for fiscal year 2019, which they also set in November 2017 at 4,999.

The cap was set in order to prepare for the upcoming sunset date of the CW-1 program on Dec. 31, 2019.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has introduced S. 2325 to reset the CW cap for fiscal year 2019 to 13,000; provide additional validity to long-time CW workers; and extend the CNMI transitional period, along with programs under it such as the CW program and the E-2C investor program, to fiscal year 2029.

It passed the U.S. Senate but hit a snag when it got to the U.S. House after the House Parliamentarian deemed a Senate amendment that embedded an anti-fraud fee as a revenue-generating provision that could only be introduced in the U.S. House.

Over the weekend, U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) introduced a new CW bill, H.R. 5956, that is the exact same bill as S.2325—inclusive of Senate amendments. H.R. 5956 is co-sponsored by Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP).

MD: DOL: employers shoulder rejected CW-1 permit repatriation
KW: DOL, Vicky Benavente, Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan, USCIS, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Rep. Rob Bishop