New ‘federalization’ bill brings hope to longtime Filipino workers in CNMI
CAPITOL HILL, Saipan – A group of nonresident workers in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), mostly from the Philippines, hopes a new bill in the US Senate seeking to apply federal immigration laws to the CNMI will be passed this time.
Jerry Custodio, president of the Human Dignity Movement, told GMANews.TV on Monday that once enacted, the new omnibus bill, S. 2739, is still a “more fair and more just" law for guest workers than the current CNMI immigration system.
The CNMI, a US territory about three hours away from Manila, is home to about 19,000 foreign workers mostly from the Philippines.
US Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) introduced S. 2739 on March 10.
This is the latest effort by some members of the US Congress to extend US immigration laws to the CNMI. Similar efforts in the past failed in the Republican-controlled US Congress.
When Democrats took control of Congress in January 2007, they made CNMI federalization a priority, citing continuous reports of slave labor and prostitution in the CNMI and limited rights for guest workers. Human trafficking cases are also still being reported.
But the CNMI government insists that the labor situation has improved, and is opposed to any immigration federalization bills.
Among the labor violations committed by employers in the CNMI include delayed or non-payment of wages and overtime, unauthorized deductions, barracks lockdown, and in some worse cases, forced prostitution.
Even though the new bill does not grant permanent residency status to eligible longtime guest workers in the CNMI, it requires the secretary of the US Department of the Interior to submit to US Congress within two years after S. 2739’s enactment a report with recommendations on how to grant the guest workers a more permanent status.
A permanent residency status allows eligible longtime guest workers and their immediate family to freely travel, work and study in the US and its territories, including Guam.
S. 2739 or the “Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008" has a provision on CNMI immigration that mirrors the old S.2483, which would have also federalized the islands’ immigration system.
“We are still all for federalization. We are hopeful that once it is enacted, the US government would give us a more permanent status. True, the bill says there would be no guest workers by 2014 but there would still be federal guest workers," he said.
Under the bill, the CNMI’s guest worker program will be phased out by Dec. 31, 2014.
Custodio said “about 30 percent" of the estimated 5,000 members of the Human Dignity Movement have already gone back home.
“It’s now survival of the fittest here. After working here for over 10 years, workers could be sent home just like that because they are beholden to their yearly contract. They don’t have political and social rights," he added.
S. 2739 also requires the Interior secretary, in consultation with the secretary of Homeland Security, and the governor of the CNMI, to report to US Congress not later than two years after the date of the bill’s enactment the number of aliens residing in the islands, a description of their legal status, and the current and future requirements of the CNMI economy for an alien workforce.
The complete text of S.2739 is now available on the website of the US Senate.
Like its predecessor S.2483, or “the National Forests, Parks, Public Land, and Reclamation Project Authorization Act of 2007," the new omnibus bill is a collection of approximately 50 individual bills under the jurisdiction of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Title VII of S.2739 would extend immigration law and create a federally run guest worker program in the CNMI (Subtitle A).
It would also give the CNMI a delegate in the House (Subtitle B) with limited voting powers.
The CNMI is currently the only US possession that does not have a delegate in US Congress.
The CNMI government is opposed to bills federalizing the islands’ immigration system, saying the local government does a better job in running its guest worker program.
S. 2739 also provides for a unified visa-waiver program for Guam and the CNMI based on the existing Guam-only visa waiver program, which was authorized by Congress in 1986.
The new visa waiver program would authorize tourists entering either Guam or the CNMI under the program to stay in either location, or any combination of both locations for a maximum 45 days.
This extends the current Guam-only visa waiver program, which provides only for a 15-day period of stay.
The provision would also exempt Guam and the CNMI from national caps for the number of H-2 temporary worker visas that could be issued for work in either location.
Officials expect this to help Guam and the CNMI meet the construction demands associated with the planned military buildup in the region.
S. 2739 is in the first stage of the legislative process, where the bill is considered in a committee and may undergo significant changes in markup sessions. A majority of bills, however, never make it out of committee, as is the case of the derailed S.2483. - Haidee V. Eugenio, GMANews.TV
Jerry Custodio, president of the Human Dignity Movement, told GMANews.TV on Monday that once enacted, the new omnibus bill, S. 2739, is still a “more fair and more just" law for guest workers than the current CNMI immigration system.
The CNMI, a US territory about three hours away from Manila, is home to about 19,000 foreign workers mostly from the Philippines.
US Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) introduced S. 2739 on March 10.
This is the latest effort by some members of the US Congress to extend US immigration laws to the CNMI. Similar efforts in the past failed in the Republican-controlled US Congress.
When Democrats took control of Congress in January 2007, they made CNMI federalization a priority, citing continuous reports of slave labor and prostitution in the CNMI and limited rights for guest workers. Human trafficking cases are also still being reported.
But the CNMI government insists that the labor situation has improved, and is opposed to any immigration federalization bills.
Among the labor violations committed by employers in the CNMI include delayed or non-payment of wages and overtime, unauthorized deductions, barracks lockdown, and in some worse cases, forced prostitution.
Even though the new bill does not grant permanent residency status to eligible longtime guest workers in the CNMI, it requires the secretary of the US Department of the Interior to submit to US Congress within two years after S. 2739’s enactment a report with recommendations on how to grant the guest workers a more permanent status.
A permanent residency status allows eligible longtime guest workers and their immediate family to freely travel, work and study in the US and its territories, including Guam.
S. 2739 or the “Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008" has a provision on CNMI immigration that mirrors the old S.2483, which would have also federalized the islands’ immigration system.
“We are still all for federalization. We are hopeful that once it is enacted, the US government would give us a more permanent status. True, the bill says there would be no guest workers by 2014 but there would still be federal guest workers," he said.
Under the bill, the CNMI’s guest worker program will be phased out by Dec. 31, 2014.
Custodio said “about 30 percent" of the estimated 5,000 members of the Human Dignity Movement have already gone back home.
“It’s now survival of the fittest here. After working here for over 10 years, workers could be sent home just like that because they are beholden to their yearly contract. They don’t have political and social rights," he added.
S. 2739 also requires the Interior secretary, in consultation with the secretary of Homeland Security, and the governor of the CNMI, to report to US Congress not later than two years after the date of the bill’s enactment the number of aliens residing in the islands, a description of their legal status, and the current and future requirements of the CNMI economy for an alien workforce.
The complete text of S.2739 is now available on the website of the US Senate.
Like its predecessor S.2483, or “the National Forests, Parks, Public Land, and Reclamation Project Authorization Act of 2007," the new omnibus bill is a collection of approximately 50 individual bills under the jurisdiction of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Title VII of S.2739 would extend immigration law and create a federally run guest worker program in the CNMI (Subtitle A).
It would also give the CNMI a delegate in the House (Subtitle B) with limited voting powers.
The CNMI is currently the only US possession that does not have a delegate in US Congress.
The CNMI government is opposed to bills federalizing the islands’ immigration system, saying the local government does a better job in running its guest worker program.
S. 2739 also provides for a unified visa-waiver program for Guam and the CNMI based on the existing Guam-only visa waiver program, which was authorized by Congress in 1986.
The new visa waiver program would authorize tourists entering either Guam or the CNMI under the program to stay in either location, or any combination of both locations for a maximum 45 days.
This extends the current Guam-only visa waiver program, which provides only for a 15-day period of stay.
The provision would also exempt Guam and the CNMI from national caps for the number of H-2 temporary worker visas that could be issued for work in either location.
Officials expect this to help Guam and the CNMI meet the construction demands associated with the planned military buildup in the region.
S. 2739 is in the first stage of the legislative process, where the bill is considered in a committee and may undergo significant changes in markup sessions. A majority of bills, however, never make it out of committee, as is the case of the derailed S.2483. - Haidee V. Eugenio, GMANews.TV
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