"Facts and Finction About Federalization"

Facts and fiction about federalization

By MONETH G. DEPOSA
and HAIDEE V. EUGENIO
SAIPAN TRIBUNE REPORTERS

Saipan Tribune asked Marie Thérèse Sebrechts, the regional media manager for the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and Michael Aytes, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services acting deputy director, to separate fact from fiction relating to the federalization of CNMI immigration:

Question: Many nonresident workers are hoping for an “organic” type of federalization this June, similar to what happened in Guam. Is this possible?

Sebrechts: When you talk about organic type of federalization of immigration and whether it's going to be like Guam, it's not. What happened here at the time of the Covenant when people got U.S. citizenship was the type of organic change. This time it's different. It's not the same thing at all as what happened in Guam. We already did that “organic” in the CNMI in 1986 when we allowed people who were born here to become U.S. citizens. We already did that and it's ongoing and hasn't changed.

Q: Foreign parents of U.S. citizen kids are convinced that they would be allowed to stay on island even if they don't have jobs.

Sebrechts: There are no specific provisions in the Immigration and Nationality Act and in the CNRA that grant alien parents of U.S. citizen children permission to remain in the United States solely because they have U.S. citizen children. Remember that minors cannot petition for their parents. For those non-U.S. citizen parents who are here because they are working, we have a transitional worker program for them. But there is one thing to remember: If someone is in a position where they can apply for status, they should do it, if they are eligible.

Q: Would foreign parents with U.S. citizen children be given humanitarian considerations and granted a status to remain here?

Aytes: We'll be looking at that on a case-by-case basis. We can't grant them permanent residence. U.S. Immigration law doesn't provide for that but we'll be looking at the age of their children, their circumstances, and [determine] the right answer for each person.

Q: How will federalization affect foreign students? There is a prevalent belief among foreign students that they will also benefit from federalization. Is this correct?

Sebrechts: No. All CNMI immigration categories will be recognized during the transition period for the validity of their current status. Eventually, as with all categories, students will fall under the INA and will apply for student visas to study in the United States. The first step will be for schools to get certified to enroll foreign students. This program is administered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. For cultural exchange students, we will have a visa for cultural exchange trips.

Q: Immediate relatives, IRs, believe that they will be granted a better immigration status come June 1, considering that they are either married or related to a U.S. citizen, a permanent resident, or a resident of Freely Associated States. Is this correct?

Sebrechts: No. This covers too many different situations. If someone is already eligible for U.S. immigration status due to marriage with a U.S. citizen, they can already begin the application process so that they have their status once the federalization of immigration begins. That will be the same option available to them once the transition period begins.
There seems to be misconception that people think that whenever transition begins, everybody will lose their status and that's not true. People will maintain the status that they have as they transition into a U.S. citizen status.

Q: A group of people has been asking for the waiver of green card fees for immediate relatives of U.S. and Freely Associated States citizens. Will you grant their request?

Aytes: We are a fee-based agency. .There are certain types of applications where we will allow the fee waived. The customer can come in, based on their circumstances, and ask that we waive the fee. We will know the facts and decide whether or not to waive the fee. As an agency, we probably don't collect the fees or waive the fees for about 20 percent of our [services]. Where we can, we try to be as flexible and understanding as we can. Decision will be made on a case-by-case basis, not based on a certain class or group of people.

Q: Do you have separate status for IRs?

Sebrechts: No. We won't have IRs as a separate status. Immediate relatives in the United States are petitioned only by immigrants.

Q: Will those foreign workers who leave the CNMI before June 1 be allowed to come in using their CNMI entry/work permit?

Aytes: U.S. law is a little different from the CNMI process. A person needs a visa to come to the CNMI after the transition date, even if they have a status here. Even if we give them status, after the transition date and they travel, they are going to need the appropriate visa to come back.

Q: Many people think they will be trapped here because of that. But should they feel trapped here?

Aytes: No. They won't be trapped here. There are processes for them to file application for us to be able to give them permission to go back and forth. Getting a visa abroad is not an unusual process. It's the same process we use in the mainland.

Q: Would you allow foreign workers who exit the CNMI before the transition period for emergency reasons to come back using a CNMI entry permit, because applying and granted US visa takes weeks?

Aytes: We'll look at emergencies. But the best thing folks can do is pay attention and plan so that if they re going to have to travel or think they may need to travel, their employer, for example, can start the petition process. .I would think employers should have a fair sense of their workers, which folks they are going to help through this process.

Q: How about the case of IRs who have a medical emergency? Can they leave and come back after their treatment?

Sebrechts: They could come to us and discuss the situation and we can maybe parole them. We will have categories that we can do temporarily for emergency cases.

Q: What are the chances of federalization being delayed by 180 more days, as requested by the local government and some businesses?

Sebrechts: USCIS is operating with the current plan for a June 1, 2009 initiation of the transition period. The Secretary of DHS is considering the option of a delay and we expect a final decision within the coming weeks.

Q: Would long-term foreign workers in the CNMI be granted “green cards” once the transition to federal immigration system begins?

Aytes: No, that's not true. We're applying U.S. immigration law. We can't craft new programs to give benefits to folks here under the old CNMI law. We will help them transition but they are not going to be able to get [permanent residence].Temporary workers will not get permanent residence simply because they worked here for a period of years.

Sebrechts: There is no automatic path [to green cards or U.S. citizenship]. Individuals with current valid CNMI worker status may be eligible for transitional worker status or regular worker categories under the INA.

Q: Workers who have lost their jobs have either gone underground or are pursuing other means to stay on the island at least until June 1 in the belief that federalization may provide them an avenue to continue staying in the CNMI or provide them a better immigration status. Is this correct?

Sebrechts: This is too general to answer. Individuals who have CNMI worker status will have an opportunity for “transitional worker” status. Individuals who are uncertain are invited to make an appointment with the USCIS Application Support Center to ask about their status.

However, there's no blanket thing that would make everybody eligible. Going underground is not a smart thing to do because as time goes on, people will start verifying workers under the U.S. immigration law and it would be harder to get a job.

Q: Most foreign workers, and even residents believe that the CNMI will not survive the sudden out-migration of workers that could result from federalization (due to the phase-out requirement of the law). They believe the federal government will not allow that to happen and so holds out hope that, despite prior statements, DHS and Interior will still find a way to accommodate the CNMI's alien workforce so it could continue having a working economy. Is this correct?

Sebrechts:The transition period has been designed specifically to allow the transition of legal workers and residents from valid CNMI status to U.S. Immigration status. As a result, during up to two years, valid CNMI status will be recognized, allowing employers time to file petitions for change of status to either transitional categories or other employment-based categories under the INA.

Q: Who will apply and pay for the transitional worker's visa?

Sebrechts: The employers.

Q: How much would it cost employers to petition their workers to have U.S. work visas and would you grant special rate to CNMI employers?

Aytes: I don't remember the exact fees. Our fees are not as cheap as folks would like them to be, especially employer petitions because of what the employers are asking to be able to hire someone who is not a native of the area instead of an American worker.

Wat-Da-Ep?

Counterfeit dollar bills?

Finally an answer to an old issue. I remember this problem was raised to us two years ago and even made it to the news. Now, three have been arrested for the said modus operandi.

The police discovered about this when the culprits from here squealed when (according to news reports) they had a fight in their very own compound. I wonder how could they admit to the crime. Did the police actually suspect them a long time ago or did they just come across the issue by luck? Also they found out that the suspects are behind the burglary on Saipan? That is just sad. Can we ask them if our stolen macbooks are still there? Dream on right?

This counterfeit actually victimized some tourists way, way back according to restaurant staff members.

For more info about this, click here.

Wave the Waive G'bye?

First include China and Russia now wisa waivers for IR's, then Guam enters the scene, Visa Waiver for the Philippines?

What gives?

If you are in tuned to these stories, it seems that our leaders are indeed scrambling for mercy at the helm of the DHS to heed their requests and spare the "economic impact" on controlling the CNMI immigration. There are so many points to consider on both sides. On one side, the impact on certain industries in the CNMI on the other is the security issues within the borders.

Immediate relatives or dependents of US citizen children will lose their status come June 09, Chinese and Russian visitors won't be able to take their affordable vacation on a "US" territory, and finally the nonresident workers will be in limbo.

All these concerns are befuddling every one on the island especially those that are concerned and should be concerned with the issues.

All we can do is to "wait and see."

On Your Mark, Ready Get Set....

The Race is On!

Will he make it this time? Will his attempt to sit on Capital Hill turn into a glorious victory this upcoming elections? Yes, Heinz Hofschneider is up and running once again and this time tagging the House Speaker Arnold Palacios as his running mate.

Do you think this tandem has a better chance than the reported Babauta-Guerrero team-up?

Hofschneider almost snagged the victory from the current governor in 2005 where at first he was leading on initial counting yet in the end the supporters from Garapan district pulled the Covenant tandem up.

(For more news, click here) Photo taken from ST.

Roberta's Humidity.....

I didn't mean to jump into this bandwagon, but we just want to express our opinion about this. I guess being away for a long time just dragged us into the mud of oblivion about what's going around the islands.

Is it true that Lil Hammerhead has been outed. I was reading, as I was redirected, Jeff Turbitt's blog and there it was front page, that Lil Hammerhead the blogger behind the successful Must Be the Humidity Blog is in fact Roberta Guerrero. Allegedly, Guerrero is the mastermind of the famous, if not infamous, blog in the CNMI.

Turbitt has been saying that there was a witness to attest that Guerrero was seen editing the blog. Then I read the exchanges of comments on Turbitt's blog and by golly, it is pretty getting out of bounds...for me the least.

If Guerrero was proven to be the zany blogger, what would the repercussions be? Would the people that the blog has criticized or commented upon strike back against the wife of the former Saipan Chamber of Commerce better half (as written in the Turbitt's blog comments).

I bet the Must Be the Humidity Blog is getting the hits now. As they say bad publicity still is publicity.

Should Airlines Invest on Saipan

A big question?

Reading printed news about the dimming tie up with Philippine flag carrier made me wonder whether any of new airlines should invest here on Saipan. At this time?

What do you think?

A Public Notice on Immigration?

Ok. This might sound delayed or late but people are bugging us of queries and inquisitions on how true that once the federalized immigration is effected the status of alien workers and immediate relatives would be null and void. Furthermore, once they exited the island, they can never go back without proper US visa and this visa cannot be used to regain their status....

Mindboggling yet troublesome for many....

What's the real deal? To whom should we refer these anxieties and queries?

Popularity Votes...

Grading our leaders in the CNMI?

Do you approve that only Reps. Sablan and Camacho received an "A" while the rest received an "F" rating? Should we believe what was gathered in this likely a personal website? What's the accuracy of this poll? Margin of error?

Should he include the rating or grading of the Governor's Office leaders as well? Speaking of popularity or approval ratings of the local government, would this matter or is it pertinent to have our own approval ratings for the local government?

For more info on this, click here.

Ridding of Poker Machines a Hope?

Just occurred in my mind the book we read back in college called "Hope for the Flowers" when I contemplate and think about the island's future as a commoner.

As many of us are still optimistic about the CNMI, we couldn't help but observe and notice some that try to pull everyone down. Yet, we remain hopeful.

Hmmm...but talking about the title of this post. Does getting rid of poker machines answer the many financial questions befuddling the islands? I was able to talk to some business owners whose business depend direly now on the revenues collected from poker machine operations. They said they survive because of the poker machines.

Hence, questions in my mind. Would taking this industry off from the economic contributors list in the CNMI help the local government ease its financial troubles? Some of the community members express that the poker machines provide substantial revenue ($10M as reported earlier) for the local government that if taken out, where would the local government get that significant revenue.

How many poker machine establishment-related crimes have been reported since then? If the community is wary about the social impact of the business, what are the local government agencies doing to control those issues?

For many it is the answer, for some maybe otherwise....

A Four-Day Work at the LB?

I know it's in the news about a four-day work sked for the Legislature. Yup, to cope with the budget problems in the government. However, does this mean that the CNMI leaders will also work only for four days a week? I believe it didn't say in the news.

However, I'm sure the legislators will still work five-days a week to serve the community all week long. Yet, without their staff working in the office on that unpaid day...hmmm...let me rethink about that. Or should I say, let me rethink about the phrase "In service to the community."