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The article focuses on the implementation of federal immigration laws in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). It mentions the Department of Homeland Security established the CNMI-Only Transitional Worker program to provide for an orderly transition from the CNMI immigration system to the U.S. federal immigration system and also mentions the DHS data found that 2,875 of 8,995 workers with CW-1 permits for fiscal year 2018 had maintained continuous employment each fiscal year.

The article focuses on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) actions needed for foreign worker permit program in the Northern Mariana Islands. It says that DHS published its methodology for its allocation of transitional worker permits, which were responsive to the mandate of Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 (CNRA) and potential demand for the permits. It mentions that DHS recognizes the need to educate, locate, and train workers to replace departing foreign workers.

The article discusses the study conducted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) regarding the status of transition to federal immigration law in the U.S. It highlights the Consolidation Natural Resources Act (CNRA) of the U.S. which amends the covenant between the U.S. and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) in relation to this issue. The article also notes the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regarding this issue.

The article highlights the report of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) about the need of the Department of Homeland Security to address the negotiations and regulations to implement the Federal Immigration Law in the Northern Mariana Islands. The report summarizes the steps DHS to establish the federal border control to Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Also mentioned the implementation of programs for workers, visitors and investors.

The article presents a study that examines the impact of the minimum wage increase law in American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). It describes the wages, employment, actions of employer, inflation-adjusted earnings, and views of worker since the wage increase began. The data collected by GAO came from employers of both large and small companies via a questionnaire and discussion groups.

The U.S. insular area of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is a self-governing commonwealth of the United States that comprises 14 islands in the North Pacific. In a December 2006 report--U.S. Insular Areas: Economic, Fiscal, and Financial Accountability Challenges (GAO-07-119)--regarding four insular areas including CNMI, GAO identified and reported the following: (1) economic challenges, including the effect of changing tax and trade laws on their economies; (2) fiscal condition; and (3) financial accountability, including compliance with the Single Audit Act. The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, which requested the December 2006 report, asked GAO to present and discuss the results as they pertain to CNMI. Our summary and conclusions are based on our work performed for our December 2006 report on U.S. insular areas. For this testimony we also had available CNMI's fiscal year 2005 audited financial statements, which we have included in our review, along with some recent developments in fiscal year 2006. The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) faces serious economic, fiscal, and financial accountability challenges. CNMI's economy depends heavily on two industries, garment manufacturing and tourism. However, recent changes in U.S. trade law have increased foreign competition for CNMI's garment industry, while other external events have negatively affected its tourism sector. CNMI's garment industry has declined in recent years with factory closings and reduced production. The value of garment shipments to the United States dropped by more than 16 percent between 2004 and 2005 and by an estimated 25 percent in 2006. Tourism in CNMI declined sharply in the late 1990s as a result of a series of external events, including the Asian financial crisis; cancellation of Korean Air service; and fears of international crises such as the SARS epidemic, terrorism, and the Iraq war. In 2005, Japan Airlines withdrew direct flights to the capital. The fiscal condition of CNMI's government has steadily weakened from fiscal year 2001 through fiscal year 2005, as government spending has exceeded revenues each year since 2002. CNMI ended fiscal year 2005 with a deficit of $84.1 million in its governmental fund balance. CNMI's liabilities also exceed its assets for its primary government. Indicators point to a severe financial crisis in fiscal year 2006. In response, the CNMI government has implemented cost-cutting and restructuring measures, including "austerity holidays," consisting of biweekly furloughs during which government workers are not paid and many government operations are closed to reduce personnel and operating costs. CNMI's long-standing financial accountability problems include the late submission of financial audit reports, inability to achieve "clean" opinions in its financial statements by the independent financial auditors, and reports showing serious internal... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]