A senior staff member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources says they believe the Mariana Islands will have a more sustainable economy if its immigration system is federalized.
Allen Stayman has told the Marianas Variety newspaper that federal legislation is needed to improve the situation in the Northern Marianas.
He says the Senate Committee has consistently found that the CNMI lacks the institutional capacity to properly administer an immigration program and that is why federal legislation is needed.
Mr Stayman says the legislation would also establish stable immigration and labor policies for a sustainable economy.
