K38 Micronesia

Excerpt from U.S. Coast Guard Proceedings of the Marine Safety & Security Council magazine by Jeffrey L. Levin, M.D. M.S.P.H, University of Texas Health Science Center; Karen Gilmore, M.P.H. University of Texas Health Science Center;Ms. Ann Carruth, D.N.S., R.N., Southeastern Louisiana University; Ms. Amanda Wickman, University of Texas Health Science Center; Ms. Sara Shepherd, M.A.M.S., University of Texas Health Science Center; Mr. Gilbert Gallardo, U.S. Coast Guard Eighth District...Read Full Story

February 7, 2012 The search for Emerita "Emie" Relata Romero, mother, sister, daughter, and friend, was called off yesterday after the FBI found her lifeless body in the northernmost part of the vacant La Fiesta Mall in San Roque. On Sunday morning Emie went missing after she finished working at Godfather's bar around 2:30 a.m. The Marianas Variety reports: Natalie Ocon, Godfather’s cook, was first to be dropped off and Romero second, who lived nearby on Chichirica Ave. Ocon later phoned...Read Full Story

February 1, 2012 Assistant Secretary of the Department of Interior for Insular Affairs, Tony Babauta lauded 12 businesses in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) who recently hired U.S. citizens. For decades while the CNMI government maintained local control of their labor and immigration systems, they kept the minimum wage so low that no U.S. citizen would accept a job in the private sector. Currently, the minimum wage is at $5.05 hourly ensuring that a full-time worker...Read Full Story

February 2, 2012 CW Education Fees Turned Over to CNMI For every CW permit that a CNMI employer completes, the CNMI gets $150 to be applied as an education funding fee. Even though the majority of the foreign workers are still waiting for their CW permits, the U.S. government has turned over $1.6 million in education fees to the CNMI government. That amount represents 10,666 foreign workers whose employers have applied for CW visas. USCIS reported that as of December 9, 2011, 11,019 CW...Read Full Story

January 4, 2012 Since November 28, 2011, the CNMI Food Stamp Office is withholding food stamps intended for eligible U.S. citizen children if their foreign parents cannot produce CW permits or CW permit receipts stating that they have been petitioned by an employer. The Saipan Tribune article states that the policy has been in effect since December 2011 and that there are some 100 food stamp vouchers on hold and the number is increasing. The CNMI food stamp program is federally funded. I have...Read Full Story