Inos asks Christie’s help in passage of HR 83

Gov. Eloy S. Inos has written to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to ask for the Republican Governors Association chairman’s help in urging House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) to put H.R. 83 on calendar before the end of the year.

“I write to request your assistance in having H.R. 83, legislation of critical importance to the economy of the Northern Mariana Islands, considered on the floor of the United States House of Representatives before the conclusion of the current Congress. Specifically, I would like to ask that you contact Speaker John Boehner on my behalf to inform him of my strong support for this bill and of the need for it to be acted upon immediately by the House,” Inos wrote in his letter to Christie dated Dec. 2, 2014.

The governor told Christie that H.R. 83 is time-critical because it would extend three policies that would otherwise expire on Dec. 31, 2014: the bar on applications for asylum in the Northern Mariana Islands, the exemption for Guam and the Northern Marianas from the national numerical cap on H visas, and the E-2C visa for investors grandfathered in from the Commonwealth’s immigration laws.

“Although the three policies deal with the sensitive area of immigration, they have been in place already for five years, so there would be no change in existing policy,” wrote Inos, adding that one of the policies applies to both Guam and the CNMI, while two apply solely to the Commonwealth.

“So this action would have no impact on the nation as a whole,” added the governor.

Inos said H.R. 83 originally passed the House in September and it required the Secretary of the Interior to assemble a team of technical, policy, and financial experts to address the energy needs of the insular areas of the United States.

During consideration in the Senate, however, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) offered an amendment extending for five years the three policies specific for Guam and CNMI immigration concerns. The Senate went on to pass H.R. 83 and it returned to the House, waiting to be placed in the calendar.

Inos justified the importance of the passage of the bill, especially provisions on CNMI immigration.

“The first policy benefits the U.S. military, enabling the hiring of foreign workers needed for the buildup of forces on Guam and in the Northern Marianas by exempting our two areas from the numerical cap of H visas. The second policy underpins our tourism economy with China by prohibiting applications for political asylum from being filed in the Northern Mariana Islands. The third policy continues a U.S. visa available only in the Northern Marianas, grandfathering 261 foreign investors who have been in business in the Marianas since before the introduction of federal immigration law in 2009.”

Inos said he previously wrote Boehner and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to voice his support for legislation similar in purpose to Sen. Murkowski’s amendments of H.R. 83.

“Now as the final days of the 113th Congress approach, I am reaching out to you to ask that you also weigh in on my behalf with the Speaker,” Inos asked Christie.

Inos alluded to his letter to Christie during Friday’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center parking lot.

“As a fellow Republican governor I want to ask his support and tell our colleagues in the U.S. House that HR-83 really has no controversy. Some folks who had an issue with that bill already lifted their concerns,” he said.

Inos also echoed Saipan Chamber of Commerce president Alex Sablan’s concerns on the extension of the asylum bar for the Commonwealth.

“That asylum bill before the House is important. Why? Because what it does, it opens the door for Chinese tourists to be able to apply for asylum. At the moment and prior to Dec. 31, 2014, they cannot. We’re concerned that the Chinese government might take a very unfavorable deal. You know, the Chinese government doesn’t want to see their residents go and apply for asylum in another country.”

Like Inos, the CNMI’s delegate to the House, Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP), has been requesting an extension beyond 2014 of the CNMI’s exemption from accepting asylum applications.

Sablan and Inos are particularly concerned that tourists from China that come here without U.S. visas could later apply for asylum, drawing concerns not only from the U.S. government but also the Chinese government.

Currently, China is a lucrative tourism market for the CNMI under the visa-waiver program since 2009.