The lower chamber of the Fono has unanimously passed a bill sponsored by nine of its members, calling for a “coordinated implementation of the territory’s immigration laws by governmental departments and agencies on the social, economic, law enforcement, and cultural impact and consequences of the territory’s immigration policies, practices and procedures.”
The proposed legislation requires the Attorney General’s Office to provide, among other things, an annual list of foreign nationals that control corporations holding business licenses in the territory; a summary of all foreign national deportation cases conducted by the Immigration Board and any foreign national exclusion or voluntary departure cases; and a summary detailing the total number of aliens, their nationalities, and their immigration status in the territory.
Furthermore, the bill also calls for the AG’s Office to provide a summary of the number of birth certificates recorded by the Office of Vital Statistics, for cases where only a single parent is identified or declared. A summary on the number of those birth certificates where both parents are foreign nationals must also be submitted.
In addition to concerns raised by the House, the Senate has submitted its own proposed legislation, penalizing sponsors of foreign nationals who are overstayers.
This particular bill has been assigned to Rep. Vaito’a Hans Langkilde, chairman of the House Government Operations Committee.
The bill states that individual sponsors or a person eligible to sponsor an alien will be charged $10 per day for every day the alien is here illegally. The fine is $50 per day for corporations or business sponsors.
The sponsor, either individual or business, has 30 working days from the date the penalties are assessed, to pay the fine. If payment is not made within the 60 working days, the sponsor will be prohibited from sponsoring any foreign national for five years. |
