Legislature backs Torres on CW

The Legislature has thrown its support behind Gov. Ralph DLG Torres’ efforts to prolong the foreign worker program past 2019, with the unanimous passage of a joint resolution over the weekend.

The Senate adopted Rep. Angel A. Demapan’s (R-Saipan) House Joint Resolution 20-07 on a vote of 8-0, showing full support for the governor’s efforts to save the CNMI-Only Transitional Worker Program, or the CW-1 program, that is slated to expire at the end of 2019.

Sen. Paul Manglona (Ind-Rota) was absent from the special session.

The House passed H.J.R. 20-07 unanimously as well, with a few members absent from the session. The House vote had a count of 16-0, with Reps. John Paul Sablan (R-Saipan), Alice Igitol (R-Saipan), vice speaker Janet Maratita (R-Saipan), and its author, Demapan, absent from the session last Dec. 4, 2017.

Torres is currently at Washington, D.C. along with several members of the Northern Marianas Business Alliance, a group of CNMI businesses, to convince the U.S. Congress to amend the law that created the CW-1 program. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recently announced a cut of 3,000 slots from the CW program for fiscal year 2018.

In an earlier statement, Torres said he “looks forward” to the Senate acting on H.J.R. 20-07.

“[Adopting H.J.R. 20-07] shows that our entire government leadership is in support of this because it’s the right thing to do for the viability of our economy and for every single person who calls these islands home,” Torres had said.

Sen. Teresita Santos (R-Rota) said the CW program is essential to “continue the economic growth as well as accommodating new and future development in the CNMI.”

The program, she said, would also provide the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. continued access to nurses, a problem that has been pestering the corporation since the enactment of U.S. Public Law 110-229, or the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008.

P.L. 110-229 federalized the immigration of the CNMI and established the CW-1 program and set the sunset provision of 2019.

Members of the Tinian leadership, led by Tinian Mayor Joey Patrick San Nicolas, Sen. Jude U. Hofschneider, (R-Tinian), Sen. Francisco Cruz (R-Tinian), Sen. Francisco Borja (R-Tinian), and Rep. Edwin Aldan (R-Tinian), also voiced their support for the governor as well on behalf of Tinian in a press conference last Dec. 5, 2017.

San Nicolas said that even if all U.S.-eligible workers on Tinian were to be employed, it still would not be enough to satisfy the workforce demands.

The Tinian leadership said there are three large developers interested in setting up establishments on Tinian—Bridge Investment Group USA, Alter City Group, and Tinian Entertainment Corp.

“I think we all agree that one day, we will have the capacity of local, trained, U.S.-eligible workers that will fill all the position required for there to be a viable casino or service-based industry in the Commonwealth, especially on Tinian, but we are not there yet,” San Nicolas said, adding that both Tinian and Rota depend on CW-1 workers because both islands are currently on the “verge of development.”

“For [the CW-1 program] to expire in 2019 would really mean [both] small and big businesses will not be able to fill these positions that is required for them to continue the services they provide,” he added.