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Bush Signs CNMI Immigration Bill, Early Reaction Positive

By Pacific Magazine
Friday: May 09, 2008

United States President George Bush has signed into law Senate Bill 2739, which applies U.S. immigration law to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; and grants the Commonwealth a non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives.

U.S. Rep. George Miller, who has sought reform of the Northern Marianas’ labor and immigration laws, said the new law will put an end to the old way of doing business which had led to the exploitation of guest workers and had stifled the local economy.

Miller lashed at disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his allies in the former Republican-controlled Congress for blocking reform for over a decade.

“Although it was clear to nearly everyone that the CNMI’s system was broken and unfair, it took a Democratic Congress to end this sordid chapter in American history. This new law responds to recommendations from the Bush Administration, the Clinton administration, the INS, the Commission on Immigration Reform, human rights activists, and many others. This law will usher in a new, safer and more just era for the Northern Mariana Islands, and for the men and women who live and work there,” he said.

Northern Marianas Rep. Tina Sablan said she was relieved to hear the “good news.”

“It is good to finally turn the page and open up a new chapter for the commonwealth. We have before us an opportunity to reinvent ourselves, and we should seize that opportunity,” she said.

Human rights activist Wendy Doromal called the signing of the law “a significant victory for every advocate, every federal official, and every person who has fought to end labor and human rights abuses in the CNMI. It is a momentous victory for the guest workers in the CNMI. It is a personal victory for me, and for my family.”

In response, U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick J. Rahall says signing of the bill will bring about closer cooperation and consultation between the territory, federal government and U.S. Congress.

"This long-awaited victory is a critical step toward preventing a recurrence of the horrible abuses that pervaded the CNMI as a result of an unchecked and ruthless garment industry.  As chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, I look forward to welcoming a CNMI Delegate to this body in the 111th Congress,” Rahall said.