Oh, work! I, personally, am against it, but I hear quite a few folks are engaging in it these days — some of them even in the CNMI government!
Disturbingly, however, § 80-20.1-101 of the CNMI administrative code still mandates national-origin discrimination. Not just allows it, but demands it.
Specifically: “It is the policy of the Commonwealth that citizens, CNMI permanent residents and U.S. permanent residents shall be given preference for employment in the private sector workforce in the Commonwealth”
And then, perhaps anticipating the challenge, the administrative code goes on for a few sections assuring us readers that this discrimination is perfectly legal! But saying it’s legal doesn’t make it legal, as Donald Trump is about to learn about election-rigging, tax-cheating, and violence-promoting! He’s just lucky that WATERSPORTS ARE STILL LEGAL IN EVERY STATE IN THE UNION, most of all Florida.
Now, what was I talking about? Oh yes. National origin discrimination. Some work visas, including CW and H, are issued only if no US workers are available. But other forms of work-capable immigration status, such as EAD in conjunction with, say, humanitarian parole, have no such requirement.
No matter what, that’s a federal visa matter. It is QUEER LIKE A TWO-DOLLAR BILL that a local department of labor would set national origin preferences. They are, at most, duplicating federal immigration law (fine, waste of our local funds but ok) or at worst, when local regs conflict with federal law, wasting our local funds on doing illegal things that won’t hold up in court anyway.
And in light of that, the CNMI administrative code puts employers in a difficult situation: any time someone who is not a US permanent resident or citizen, but not in a category such as CW or H, approaches them, the employer can either break federal law by discriminating against them, or break local law by not discriminating against them.
If you’ve been discriminated against because you’re not a US citizen or permanent resident, and the discrimination was not part of a valid employment visa program such as CW or H, you may be able to get not just a job, but PUNITIVE DAMAGES (that means CASH MONEY) from the employer, if they have any!
Listen to me carefully, possums, because you can’t mess this up. Basically what you have to do is contact the Feds: specifically, IER, Immigrant Employee Rights, at the Department of Justice. You can call them at 1-800-255-7688 or file online at https://www.justice.gov/crt/
You may also want to review these HELPFUL INFORMATIVE AND INNOVATIVE (even more so than my columns) posters:
That are also available in Tagalog ( https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/
But that’s not all! If a CNMI government office discriminates against you based on national origin — as the old CNMI DOL refused to help people who weren’t “local” — you can also snitch on them to a DIFFERENT desk at the DOJ, the Office For Civil Rights! Isn’t the DOJ great?
Report government agencies (that receive DOJ funding, and almost all do) here:
https://www.ojp.gov/program/
Well! I hope I’ve given you a fun and fulfilling summer project! Next time, possums, we’ll talk about how to report the CNMI’s rapacious banks and telecom carriers to the feds! STAY TUNED.
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Mabel Doge Luhan is a woman of loose morals. She resides in Kagman V, where she pursues her passions of crocheting, beatboxing, and falconry.
