Pinoys hopeful delay in CNMI federalization will give them improved status

GARAPAN, Saipan – Filipinos in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) are hopeful of being granted improved status after US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano delayed by 180 days the start of transition to federal immigration in the CNMI. Napolitano issued the decision on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) in Washington, D.C. Instead of June 1, the transition period begins on Nov. 28, 2009. Ronnie Doca, president of the Pilipino Contract Workers Association, said the delay will give the US government more time to consider the requests of foreign workers for an immigration status under a federal system. Filipino groups initially wanted the transition to begin on June 1, but this changed after federal officials said there will be no “green cards" or permanent residency to foreign workers in the CNMI by virtue of their long stay in the CNMI, to foreign parents of US citizen children, or to foreign immediate relatives of US and Freely Associated States citizens. Most of them are Filipinos. “Mas maganda na rin na nadelay kasi dahil baka ma-consider din nila na bigyan ng status yung iba pang foreigners dito, hindi lang yung mga immediate relatives ng FAS citizens," Doca told GMANews.TV. [It’s better that it’s delayed because they may consider giving status to other foreigners here, not just the immediate relatives of FAS citizens.] Many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who have been in this US territory for five to 20 or more years have been hoping that federalization will allow them to get a green card or be granted US citizenship. A green card, or a US permanent resident card, is an identification card attesting to the permanent resident status of an alien in the United States of America. Green card holders are allowed to live, work and study in the US. Welcome move Daniel Buniag, spokesperson of the group consisting mainly of US citizens of Filipino descent and Filipino workers with US citizen children in the CNMI, welcomed the federalization delay. “It gives businesses and other individuals with foreign workers ample time to adjust and work on their employees' papers either H1/H2 or any immigration status adjustment if they qualify and are still wanted," said Buniag, of the Coalition for Recognition, Equality and Advancement of American Ethnic Minorities (Cream). After the transition period, many OFWs in the CNMI may be forced to leave if they do not have federal work visa, which depends on whether their employer can afford or want to petition them. When this happens, thousands of US citizen children born to Filipino parents and other foreigners will be left on their own. Doca, who is also board chairman of the United Workers Movement NMI which represents foreign workers in the CNMI, said they are not giving hope. The decision CNMI Delegate to the US Congress Gregorio C. Sablan received Napolitano’s decision through a personal visit from Homeland Security assistant secretary Richard Barth. The decision is to delay transition to full application of the US immigration provisions of Title VII of the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 or Public Law 110-229 until Nov. 28, 2009. Title VII extends US immigration laws to the CNMI, which currently administers its own immigration system. The CNMI is home to some 10,000 OFWs and Filipino-Americans. The law set June 1, 2009 as the date for the transition to begin. But it also gave the Homeland Security secretary the power to delay the date by 180 days, if needed. Proposal Sablan wrote a nine-page “thank you" letter to Napolitano for her decision to delay the start of the transition. The letter also sets out a number of proposals regarding the regulations that now need to be written. In his letter, Sablan identified five different groups of people, who now are legal residents of the CNMI who may be hurt, if regulations are not carefully written. One concern that applies to several of the groups is whether people will be able to leave the CNMI — for medical emergencies or other reasons — and then be able to get back in. Sablan wants regulations to be written that will allow any legal resident to leave and re-enter without the need for a new US visa. Without such consideration, OFWs in the CNMI cannot re-enter the CNMI to work using their valid CNMI work permit. If they have a US tourist visa, they can reenter the CNMI but only as tourists. The CNMI is the last US territory that does not require a US visa. Sablan is also concerned about families that have both US citizen and non-US citizen members who may not be able to afford the cost of getting US visas for the non-US citizen family members. US visa applications are expensive and they require that families earn at least 125 percent of the federal poverty level. CNMI Governor Benigno R. Fitial, other key officials and business leaders welcomed the federalization delay, saying it will give DHS more time to carefully review its regulations to protect residents, foreign workers and the economy. They also want DHS to include Chinese and Russians in the program that allows tourists to enter the CNMI and Guam without a US visa, citing these tourists’ contribution to the local economy. DHS has yet to issue the CNMI-only transitional worker program and investor regulations, making it hard for all affected sectors to make business and personal plans. - GMANews.TV