Northern Mariana Islands: Federal immigration bill will harm indigenous people

The Northern Mariana Islands is a dependent territory of the United States.  This means that they are bound by United States law and the United States Constitution.  However, an immigration federalization bill, proposed by Senator Bingaman (D-NM), would extend United States federal control of immigration in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), which the governor believes will harm the locals as well as deprive the local government of about $5 million in revenue.

Senator Bingaman chairs the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, which has oversight jurisdiction over the islands.

The draft bill of the Northern Mariana Islands Covenant Implementation Act would grant documented foreign workers with at least five years in the CNMI the same immigration privileges as those enjoyed by citizens of the Freely Associated States (Palau, the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia).  These measures would deprive the government of labour and immigration fees.  There are concerns that the Department of Homeland Security's grant of lawful non-immigrant status to "all eligible workers and their spouses and children" would harm the indigenous population, and there are also concerns regarding the discrepancies between the CNMI bill and the national (United States) immigration bill.

Please see also:
"Administration questions draft federalization measure" Marianas Variety (24 May 2007)
"Federal immigraton bill harms indigenous people, govt warns" Pacific Magazine (24 May 2007)
full text of the draft bill as introduced in Congress in March 2001.