Kilili: US Labor secretary won’t wait until 11th hour

U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez has reportedly assured Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) that “he would not wait until the 11th hour to release his decision on extending the transition period,” according to Sablan.
“I have to take the secretary at his word; and, obviously, the July deadline is not far away,” Sablan told Saipan Tribune.

Perez has only until July 4 to decide whether to extend or not the Commonwealth-only worker program that allows the CNMI to have continued access to some 10,000 skilled and professional foreign workers.

The delegate said he remains “optimistic” that the U.S. Labor secretary will extend the transition period, but he does not know for how long.

“It could be the full five years or some shorter period of time,” he said.

Gov. Eloy S. Inos, Sablan, and the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, among others, asked U.S. Labor to extend the transition period by five years or up to 2019 because of the current lack of available and qualified U.S. workers to replace some 10,000 foreign workers. At the same time, the CNMI has been training and placing more U.S. workers in available jobs.

During a recent congressional hearing, Sablan asked Perez to make a decision “soon” on the CW program extension request.

Sablan’s bluntest public statement so far states that the U.S. Department of Labor “has been unable, or unwilling to make a decision” for “14 months.”

While foreign workers with CW permits could remain beyond 2014 once Perez extends the program, E2C investors in the CNMI may have tougher times ahead as their allowed stay in the CNMI is also only until Dec. 31, 2014, unless Sablan’s pending legislation in Congress passes.

E2C investors have been demanding for improved immigration status so they won’t be forced to depart the CNMI. They are those who were allowed to remain in the CNMI under E2C status even with a minimum investment of $50,000 instead of $150,000, but that would only be allowed until the end of this year.

After 2014, these investors will be required to obtain another U.S. immigrant or nonimmigrant visa classification.

“The most recent information we have from USCIS [U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services] is that there were 261 E2 or E2C investors as of Jan. 6, 2014. USCIS could not break out the E2Cs alone. And there were 130 dependents of these E2 or E2C investors,” Sablan said.

The delegate said his office continues to work on “legislative alternatives.”

For example, S. 1237, which would extend the transition period not only for CW workers but also for E2C permit holders, was ordered to be reported by the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in December.

Sablan recently introduced a standalone bill, H.R. 4296, to extend the transition period by five years or up to 2019. He said he is working to get a hearing this month. The bill has been referred to the U.S. House Committees on Natural Resources and Judiciary.

This is the same language contained in Sablan’s Omnibus Territories Act or HR 2200 and its Senate companion, S. 1237. Sablan said both bills are moving slowly because they contain other changes to territorial law, some of which are controversial. To improve the chances of enacting the transition extension with a standalone bill, he introduced H.R. 4296.

A lack of a decision on the CW program and action on bills to extend the E2C investor program continue to bring uncertainty in the CNMI economy. Employers are holding off expansion plans, would-be investors are on a wait-and-see mode, and foreign workers remain uncertain whether they would still have a job after 2014.

This comes at a time when new hotels, a Saipan casino, and other facilities will be built to meet the tourism industry’s growing demand.