Permanent residence bill okayed

Statement

Wednesday, the House Natural Resources Committee reported favorably H.R. 560, my bill making permanent resident status in the Marianas possible for an estimated 2,875 long-term CW workers. The bill, which I introduced in February, also gives some 56 foreign investors, originally admitted under the Marianas' own immigration law, the ability to stay in the Marianas indefinitely. The bill was amended in Committee, removing about 1,000 individuals who had been living in the Marianas under temporary, humanitarian parole. They are already eligible for the Marianas-only permanent resident status by virtue of another bill I introduced, H.R. 559, which President Trump signed into law on June 25. Permanent resident status does not provide a pathway to U.S. citizenship or convey any right to public services, such as food stamps or Medicaid. But, by moving these long-term workers out of the CW program, we are taking a burden off the businesses they work for that have had to apply for CW permits year-after-year. This stabilizes our labor market in a way that will have positive economic effects going forward.

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