Jobless Pinoys face deportation in CNMI

GARAPAN, Saipan – Hundreds of jobless Filipinos in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) have until November 27 this year to find a new employer or face deportation from the United States territory.

Despite being unable to find new employers, jobless foreign workers have been able to remain in CNMI because of a so-called “umbrella permit” that the CNMI government issued.

However, these CNMI permits will expire by November this year.

Ruling on foreign workers

According to a US Department of Homeland Security’s final rule governing foreign workers in the CNMI,foreign workers need to have an employer who will petition for them a Commonwealth-only worker classification on or before the permits’ expire this November.

The final rule was issued almost two years after the US federal government took control of CNMI immigration on November 28, 2009.

Published in the September 7 “Federal Register,” this rule creates a transitional Commonwealth-only classification for workers in the CNMI.

It is referred to as the “CW” classification or status, which could allow foreign workers to remain in the CNMI until December 31, 2014.

A foreign worker may be eligible for a CW status if he is ineligible for a non-immigrant or immigrant classification under the US Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

If he or she does not qualify for an “H” or “L” visa under the INA, that person may be eligible for a CW status.

However, only employers in the CNMI can petition their employers for the said classification.

Pinoys affected by new ruling

Many Filipinos, along with other Asian workers mostly from China, Bangladesh and Thailand, used to have legal jobs but as the CNMI economy continued to shrink, businesses have either reduced or stopped their operations.

Esmeralda Villanueva, 68, from Bulacan, said she has been without a legal, full-time job since 2004 but has remained in the CNMI using a temporary work authorization and, later on, an umbrella permit.

She has been able to survive by getting part-time job as a house worker, sometimes for $20 for a few hours.

“Kung wala talaga akong makitang employer, uuwi na lang ako. Pero sino ang tutulong sa akin para makabili ng plane ticket pauwi?” she told GMA News Online in an interview while she was trying to sell used household items at a Saturday bazaar in the CNMI’s capital island of Saipan.

A one-way ticket from Saipan to Manila could cost between $300 and $400.

Caregivers

Aside from jobless Filipinos, some 950 legal caregivers also fear being out-of-status if they fail to find a manpower agency to hire them.

The CW rule does not allow individuals in the CNMI to hire foreign workers as caregivers.

Only businesses, such as manpower agencies, can hire aliens as caregivers and for other kinds of household work.

Filipino nurses

Hundreds of Filipino nurses working at the CNMI government-run Department of Public Health are worried about their immigration status.

Most of these nurses from the Philippines qualify for an H1-B visa or other classification under the INA, and not the transitional CW status.

Nurses from the Philippines generally have a four-year bachelor’s degree, have NCLEX certification and sufficient work experience that qualify them for an INA visa.

However, some of the Filipino nurses wanted to find out why the CNMI government has not applied for an H1-B visa for them.

“Sa ngayon, di naming alam kung a-apply-yan kami ng H1-B visa. Or baka pauuwiin na kami. Pero sino ang mag-aalaga sa mga pasyente nila? Halos lahat ng nurses nila ay taga-Pilipinas,” one of the government nurses said.

The CNMI government said it is aware of the situation and will release more information later.

Outstanding Filipino worker

Rudy Francisco, 50, has been jobless since 2009 but like many other foreign workers, he has been able to remain in the CNMI because of his umbrella permit.

In 2002, he was recognized by the Philippine government as one of the Ten Most Outstanding Filipino Workers in the CNMI.

“I always thought that the U.S. is a champion for human rights around the world, except in the CNMI. Many of the foreign workers here will be sent home without getting justice from the federal government,” said Francisco, adding that he will continue to press for justice for Filipino workers even when he’s already back in the Philippines.

He said it has been difficult to find a job because of the weak economy but he’s prepared to go back to the Pihlippines – only if the federal government helps him get paid some $25,000 in back wages that his former employer still owes him.

Francisco is among the CNMI foreign workers whose former employers still have to pay them $6.1 million in back wages. Their labor cases remain pending.

Francisco said he will leave with a heavy heart if he does not get the money he worked hard for.

Fear of being separated from families

Elena Dariguez, 43, is worried that if she does not find a manpower agency to petition a CW status for her, she would be forced to go back to the Philippines.

Dariguez, from Leyte, is concerned that her two minor children – both US citizens – will be separated from her and would be left with her husband, also a contract worker on Saipan.

“Tinanong ko sila kung gusto nilang sumama sa akin, sabi nila ‘No way. This is our country’. Kapag sinama ko sila sa Pilipinas, sayang ‘yung free education nila sa public school at Medicaid ng federal government,” Dariguez said.

“Siyempre, masakit para sa akin na mahiwalay sa kanila kaya dapat makahanap ako ng manpower agency na magha-hire sa akin,” Dariguez added.

Pending bill in Congress

Dariguez and other relatives of US citizens have been hoping that a pending bill in the US Congress will help them remain in the CNMI and be with their family.

That bill is HR 1466, introduced early this year by the CNMI’s first nonvoting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, Delegate Gregorio Kilili Sablan (Ind-MP).

The legislation seeks to grant CNMI-only resident status for limited groups of people in the CNMI, including immediate relatives of US citizens.

However, the chance of having the bill passed by the US Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama before November 27 this year is slim.

Little time to look for work

Rabby Syed, president of the United Workers Movement-NMI, said the short time between the release of the final worker rule and the deadline for everyone to find a legal job is short.

His movement continues to request Obama to use his administrative power to grant a parole in place status for thousands of foreign workers in the CNMI “until the U.S. Congress acts on the Interior Department’s recommendation to grant improved status for foreign workers who have been in the CNMI for at least five years.”

The Interior’s recommendation, submitted last year, has yet to see the light of day in the US Congress.

Syed will be going to Washington, D.C. on September 30 to bring to US lawmakers’ attention the plight of long-term foreign workers in the CNMI. – VVP, GMA News