‘Eliminate CNMI provision in 2 national immigration bills’ The House Committee on Foreign and Federal Relations made technical amendments to Rep. Felicidad Ogumoro’s (R-Saipan) resolution, this time asking Congress to “eliminate” instead of “hold indefinitely” a provision giving a path to improved immigration status for long-term, legal aliens in the CNMI that’s in pending national immigration reform bills. A copy of the committee report, released yesterday, shows that only four of seven panel members signed off on it. Gov. Eloy S. Inos, meanwhile, reiterated his support for a pathway to improved immigration status for long-term, legal aliens in the Commonwealth. The governor also expressed concern that House Resolution 18-34 goes against the CNMI goal of having “one voice,” considering that Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) worked on the CNMI-specific provision’s inclusion in both S. 744 and H.R. 15. The committee report said that HR 18-34 requests Congress to eliminate any action on Section 2109 of S. 744 and similar legislation “which will allow thousands of alien workers, their families and persons of other ethnic origin or race who are in the [CNMI] to become U.S. permanent residents and subsequently become U.S. citizens.” Among the committee’s findings is that absent any updated CNMI Census information other than the 2010 Census data, Chamorro and Carolinian people of Northern Marianas descent already constitute only 15,363 or 29 percent of the CNMI population. “As a consequence, the Chamorros and Carolinians of the Northern Mariana Islands will ultimately become powerless and minority voice in their homeland,” the committee said. The committee agrees with the resolution that the CNMI-specific provision in national immigration reform bills goes against the Covenant that established the political relationship between the Northern Marianas and the U.S. Delegate Sablan said the issue of immigration “was settled in 1975 when the people approved the Covenant.” CNMI immigration is now under federal control pursuant to U.S. Public Law 110-229. The delegate said if some individuals believe that the federal government is infringing upon Northern Marianas sovereignty, they should bring PL 110-229 to court rather than in Congress. Besides Ogumoro and committee chair Rep. Trenton Conner (Ind-Tinian), the other two members who signed the report recommending the House adoption of House Resolution 18-34 are Reps. Lorenzo I. Deleon Guerrero (Ind-Saipan) and Antonio Agulto (Ind-Saipan). Deleon Guerrero and Agulto are co-sponsors of HR 18-34. The three committee members who didn’t sign the report were Reps. Ralph N. Yumul (Ind-Saipan), John Paul Sablan (Cov-Saipan), and Christopher Leon Guerrero (Cov-Saipan). Yumul told Saipan Tribune yesterday that during the committee meeting on Friday—which lasted almost six hours—he expressed his “reservations” on HR 18-34 and will vote “no” to it when it gets to the floor for action. “I’m not voting in favor of the resolution,” Yumul said. Sablan and Leon Guerrero could not be reached for comment on the committee report, as they were in Guam for the Nov. 12 and 13 Mariana Islands Legislature Association Congress. But both JP Sablan and Leon Guerrero are co-sponsors of the resolution. If the committee report is adopted on Friday during a session on Rota, then the House could vote on it on the same day or at the next session. The resolution itself, however, has at least 12 co-authors, led by Ogumoro, and if they all vote “yes,” then the resolution would be adopted as early as Friday on Rota. The 12 co-authors of the resolution including Ogumoro, Agulto and Lorenzo Deleon Guerrero are Reps. Anthony T. Benavente (Ind-Saipan), Roman C. Benavente (Ind-Saipan), George Camacho (R-Saipan), Christopher Leon Guerrero, Janet Maratita (Ind-Saipan), John Paul Sablan, Richard Seman (R-Saipan), Mario Taitano (Ind-Saipan), and Ray Tebuteb (Ind-Saipan). Most of them were in Guam. Tebuteb, who was on island yesterday, said he co-sponsored the resolution because he supports its intent. He said he will vote “yes” to the resolution when it gets to the floor. Other House members who are neither co-author of the resolution nor member of the committee that reviewed it have yet to make public their stand on HR 18-34. Meanwhile, the governor is also concerned about the resolution’s impact on a related issue, wherein the CNMI requests an extension of the CW program beyond Dec. 31, 2014, so that the islands will continue to have access to some 12,000 skilled and professional foreign workers. Moreover, without Sablan’s provision in S. 744 or H.R. 15, “anyone who’s been here as of December 2011, who has no felony conviction and who has no three misdemeanor charges, would be eligible to a path [to citizenship].” Sablan’s provision allows legal aliens who have been in the CNMI since at least 2003 to “apply” for permanent residency or “green card” five years after the immigration reform bill is signed into law. It is uncertain whether S.744 and H.R. 15 could be acted on by U.S. Congress this year, although Delegate Sablan earlier said that if and when U.S. House Speaker John Boehner puts S. 744 to a vote, it has enough votes to pass.
Posted on: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 09:41:44 +0000
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