On the recordJune 1, 2011
It's ``getting ridiculous.'' That's what Saipan Chamber of Commerce President Doug Brennan said about the Department of Homeland Security's failure to issue regulations implementing Federal immigration in the Northern Mariana Islands. And I agree, it is getting ridiculous. Three years since the law was enacted, 18 months since it took effect, two oversight hearings, letters from congressional leaders, meeting after meeting, and still no regulations. Workers don't know what their status will be 5 months from now. Businesses can't plan for the future. ``It's putting the brakes on the economy,'' the chamber president says. And what does DHS say? The regulations will be released when the regulations are released. That is no way for a Federal agency to fulfill its responsibilities. We will get to it when we get to it? Federal immigration was supposed to benefit the Marianas, improve the economy. Instead, it's making things worse. As we think about funding Homeland Security today, Homeland Security should be explaining why it isn't doing its job issuing these long-overdue regulations for the Northern Mariana Islands. ____________________
