Efforts to ease a shortage of foreign workers in the Northern Marianas could hinge on the result of the US election.
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump leave the stage after the first presidential debate. Photo: AFP
A cap of almost 13,000 foreign workers has already been reached for 2017 with 11 months still left in the fiscal year.
Our correspondent, Mark Rabago, said authorities in the CNMI have proposed increasing the cap to 18,000 and extend it for a further ten years.
He said the success of those proposals depends on who wins at the polls.
"Clinton, Hillary is pro-immigration, to relax the immigration of the US. If she wins then probably there is a good hope that alien workers here, longterm alien workers who are legal could have some good standing in the future. And it all depends on Congress, if Congress remains Republican, it's going to be an uphill battle."
Mr Rabago said reaching the cap so soon in the fiscal year will handicap the local economy which has been booming.
