Gregorio Sablan: “I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, 12 years ago, Congress enacted legislation extending U.S.…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, 12 years ago, Congress enacted legislation extending U.S. immigration law to my district, the Northern Mariana Islands; and for my 11 years here in Congress, I have worked to make the resulting transition as least difficult as possible. Because there were unforeseen consequences, there were people who fell through the cracks. Today we have the chance to help some of those people. Their circumstances were not taken into account when Federal immigration was extended to our islands. {time} 1600 During the Obama administration, they were granted humanitarian parole that allowed them to stay. But President Trump decided that was an improper use of parole. The President's executive order of January 25, 2017, directed that parole be granted only on a case-by-case basis not to categories of people, as had been done in the Marianas. As a result, 1,039 long-term residents of my island lost their parole status last December. They were given until June 29 to adjust status or leave. I have no argument with the President's thinking. In fact, I have worked to provide permanent status in law for these long-term residents. But immigration legislation is difficult. I have not been successful. I hope today that will change because even though the Trump administration ended parole, at the same time, the administration also recognized that these long-term residents should be allowed to stay in the Marianas.…”