Stuck in the middle

I'm not talking about 'federalization' of minimum wage and immigration control. To me at least, that's been inevitable for a long, long time. All of this noise about whether it 'should' happen is just a distraction (That's still not the best word, but it's better than demagoguery). In the end, like a small animal chasing its tail, you end up in the same place.

No. It's here, and where do we go from here?

Oversimplifying (my specialty), I've read and seen that there are too many 'guest workers'. There likely won't be enough when the CW* workers are phased out in five years.

Boonie Workers

The idea of CNMI-only H-2 workers has been floated. What would that accomplish? The CNMI, and Guam, are not subject to the quota: we can hire as many H-2 workers as we need. There's the rub; the H-2 classification is for skilled workers, while the Commonwealth will probably be short of semi-skilled workers. That proposal sounds like misdirection; an attempt to squeeze CW skills into the H-2 rules. Better we use something like, say, BW (boonie worker).

Any system that attempts to fill permanent positions with an underclass of temporary workers will be abused, and it doesn't matter whether it is administered locally or federally.

The shining path

Guest workers and their advocates argue that the solution is residency and a pathway to citizenship. They also say it is only fair to people who have worked and lived here for 10, 20 or more years.

Some opponents argue that they will be overwhelmed by the sheer number of aliens, losing control. That's already happened, except politically, but we'll set that aside.

Others like the BW system. "What if these people get status and then run to Guam?" they ask.

So here I am, stuck in the middle. Yes, citizenship, out of fairness and equity (though, despite the urban legends, you knew the rules). Yes, don't dilute the culture (but where were you 20 years ago?). Yes, there might not be enough workers when the transition ends (why, after all of these years, aren't our wages closer to Guam's?).

Just the facts, ma'am

Jack Webb got it right, but there aren't many facts to go by. That's another chase-your-own-tail blame game. The economy will change during the transition. How much, and in what ways is anybody's guess.

So far, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services people have been asking for help in getting from here to there. Some see that as a failing on their part. I don't. Rather it's something refreshing, coming as it does from the federal government.

Of course, the Secretary of the Interior is supposed to come out with a report by May 8, 2010 including "the number of aliens in the CNMI, their legal status, the length of the aliens’ stays in the CNMI, the CNMI economy’s need for foreign workers, and recommendations, if deemed appropriate, whether or not legal foreign workers in the CNMI on May 8, 2008, should be able to apply for long-term status under United States law."

Not so fast, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior Nikolao I. Pula testified in May. He asked for another year, arguing that there wasn't enough time to see the trends with DHS delaying its takeover for 180 days.

Here we go again.

* The CW, or unskilled CNMI-only, category is on hold until Immigration goes back and issues its regulations following the Administrative Procedures Act.

USCIS website

It's not interesting to a lot of people, but I happily received this e-missive from the Department of Homeland Security:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas and Federal Chief Performance Officer Jeff Zients today launched a redesigned USCIS website—available in English and Spanish—a major effort which fulfills President Obama’s pledge to offer enhanced navigation tools for the public to access immigration information and review case status Here's the press release

I'm on board because I've been signed up for DHS emails since the federal immigration ball started rolling toward the CNMI (My inner civil libertarian also wants to see what this huge post-911 monstrosity of a department is up to.)

For instance, a little more than a week ago, I fruitlessly looked for this press release about the proposed foreign investment rules for the Commonwealth. On the new site it was two clicks away. (To be fair, they may not have been updating the old site very well because they knew it was on its way out.)

Ah, those rules; let's take a meeting

The Marianas Variety has a Press Release from Congressman Gregorio C. Sablan with the statement that "Published visa waiver regulations will not be changed before Nov. 28, Napolitano said, although she did hold out the hope of some creative solution to allow Chinese and Russian tourists into the Marianas." So much for having a comment period. Okay, okay, I'm sure there were a lot of comments and they were duly considered. But, still...

Creative solution? Hmm, how about ankle bracelets? Talking to DEA about searching everyone on the planes? That's off the top of my head.

I'm glad the Secretary was able to take the time to discuss the issues, more happy that she "gets it". What does that mean in the real world?

If Napolitano says the tourist visa regulations are signed, sealed and deliverable, I'd guess nil and none are the chances for changes on foreign investment. All in all, not much about the meeting to like, other than the fact it took place. I do like Kilili's last sentences in the Press Release: "I also find it interesting that these investor regulations will even waive fees for investors. This is what we need to do for other people, IRs and permanent residents, who also have made a long-term commitment to the Northern Marianas and cannot easily afford the fees for U.S. visas."

Great suggestion. I hope Napolitano "gets it".

Changing the subject (and why not?)

My daily chuckle came from the line in the release about the USCIS website praising President Obama's pledge and naming all of the officials responsible for it. It reminded me of the current hullabaloo in the 'red'* blogs about the cost of road signs touting projects with 'recovery' or 'stimulus' act funding. Their source seems to be this Washington Times article. "These are self-congratulatory signs; they're political signs", according to Sen. Judd Gregg. "They're so that lawmakers can pat themselves on the back."

The money is small potatoes, though waste is waste (Those $3,000 signs in New Jersey must pad a lot of pockets). Just another teapot tempest.

We see that stuff so much that it's almost invisible. Newspaper notices from supposedly autonomous agencies that have to slip in the Governor's name. The phrase "under the leadership of" slipped gratuitously into stories. Sen. Gregg is either naive or cynical to make such a big deal about it. It's interesting, for instance, that Sen. John McCain's effort to get pork out of the transportation and housing bill didn't get any traction at all.

* (Yes, I hate labels, but that's the closest I can get. They're not exactly conservative, not all Republican. I don't know how else to lump them together in one tent. Even more off of the subject: how did they get to be red, while the liberals got blue. It seems to be an inversion of that whole pinkie, red menace meme.)

The sound of one shoe dropping

USCIS* seems to be plodding away at regulations to begin the transition to U.S. immigration control in the CNMI as (re)scheduled beginning Nov. 28, 2009.

According to Immigration Daily, USCIS will publish proposed rules for nonimmigrant investors in the Sept. 14, 2009 Federal Register. The questions and answers on their website (It's a PDF) certainly look like an official document. I roamed about the USCIS site for a bit, but couldn't find it. That doesn't mean much; it's 1:00 a.m. and I gave up easily.

Expect some howling. Evidently the "E-2 CNMI nonimmigrant Investor" category will grandfather "eligible long-term foreign investors" who have that status before Nov. 28. They get two years initially, renewable until Dec. 31, 2014. After that they have to find another status under U.S. Immigration law.

As proposed, the E-2 visa is CNMI-only; travel elsewhere in the United States would have to be under another status. And... anybody with this status who leaves the Commonwealth would have to get an E-2 visa from a U.S. Embassy or Consulate before re-entering.

The document estimates about 500 long-term investors would be affected. In a recent story the Marianas Variety reported "514 long-term business permit holders and 92 foreign investment certificate holders". As proposed, retiree investors and "Short- and Regular-Term Business Entry Permit" holders would not be eligible.

They're coming, aren't they?

This whole transition to federal control has had a somewhat surreal quality, like a community theater production of Waiting for Godot under the palms. Endless debates about What It All Means while the main character never appears onstage.

Washington Delegate Gregorio C. Sablan got so frustrated that he's suggesting yet another delay because nothing seems to be happening. This is something, I suppose, though it seems like short notice. Comments can be made until October 14, 2009.

Oh, note the date on the PDF: 9/11



* (That's "The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services")

Duly chastised, I blog. I used to write letters infrequently, and when I did they were multi-page productions because I had so much *stuff* backed up. Similar situation, this.