‘Do not extend December deadline for CW program’

Dear U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez: The Northern Marianas Descent Corp. is a chartered non-profit public corporation comprised of U.S. citizens, a majority of whom are indigenous Chamorro and Carolinian people. On April 22, 2014, the NMDC mandated me as president of the corporation to write on behalf of the membership to respectfully request that the extension for the foreign workers residing in the CNMI for another five years not to be granted, except for persons in critically needed positions.

We find it very disturbing that our current Delegate to the U.S Congress, the Honorable Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, while arguing that the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Island needs the 14,000-plus foreign workers in the CNMI beyond December 2014, is simultaneously and diligently supporting other legislative measures, such as S.744 Section 2109 and H.R. 15, which if passed, would grant a pathway to permanent residency and eventually U.S. citizenship to these foreign workers. It is important to point out that the CNMI government, the private sector, and the non-profit organizations have already instituted measures to accelerate the training and development of local U.S. citizens workforce and job placement efforts. There is no compelling reason to grant a five-year extension to all classes of jobs presently occupied by foreign workers. There are many job classes presently held by foreign workers that do not require five years of training: only two days for gas attendant; four days for cashier; one week for bank teller; two days for a bellhop; four days for a waiter/waitress; two weeks for bartender; one week for construction helper; two months for account clerk; one month for bus driver; eight months for mason, rough carpenter, plumber; one year for electrical technician; two years for heavy equipment mechanic; and the list goes on. Furthermore, critical positions in healthcare such as nurses, doctors and physician assistant, including other technical (e.g., engineers) and hard-to-fill positions do not require more than three years to be replaced by U.S citizens.

According to the 2010 Census, over 14,000 foreign workers controlled 58 percent of the job market in the CNMI, while U.S. citizen unemployment rate was 11 percent. The foreign worker population has already outnumbered the U.S. citizens’ voting population, and this will certainly marginalize and displace the local U.S. citizens in their homeland.

Delegate Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan has a two-pronged approach to ensure the granting of permanent residency and U.S citizenship to over 14,000 foreign workers. First, he has supported/authored several legislative measures recently to ensure that the extension for foreign workers’ presence in the CNMI beyond December 2014 comes to fruition. Second, Delegate Sablan is simultaneously making every attempt to include the CNMI foreign workers in the U.S. immigration reform efforts. He introduced his own bill to grant a pathway to permanent residency and U.S. citizenship to all foreign workers in the CNMI, he included Section 2109 in S.744, and he co-sponsored H.R. 15.

On Sept. 12, 2013, CNMI legislator Felicidad T. Ogumoro and 10 co-sponsors (out of the 20-member House of Representatives) introduced CNMI House Resolution 18-34, respectfully requesting the 113th U.S. Congress to eliminate Section 2109 of S.744, which will allow thousands of foreign workers, their families, and persons of other ethnic and foreign political status who are in the CNMI to become U.S. permanent residents and subsequently U.S. citizens. The resolution, adopted on Nov. 15, 2013, indicated a consensus amongst the sponsors that S.744 Section 2109 violates the spirit and sanctity of the Covenant Agreement with the United States establishing the political union between the U.S. and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Island.

Again, the Northern Marianas Descent Corp., which advocates for and promotes the development of the indigenous Chamorro and Carolinians in the CNMI, is strongly opposed to the extension of the December 2014 deadline, and respectfully ask that, with the exception of critical and hard-to-find jobs, this extension not be approved.

Herman R. Deleon Guerrero
President, Northern Marians Decent Corp.