The CNMI comprises a group of 14 islands in the western Pacific Ocean, lying just north of Guam and 5,500 miles from the U.S. mainland. Most of the CNMI population—58,629 in 2007—resides on the island of Saipan, with additional residents on the islands of Tinian and Rota. After World War II, the U.S. Congress approved the Trusteeship Agreement that made the United States responsible to the United Nations for the administration of the islands. Later, the Northern Mariana Islands sought self- government while maintaining permanent ties to the United States. In 1976, after almost 30 years as a trust territory, the District of the Mariana Islands entered into a Covenant with the United States establishing the island territory’s status as a self-governing commonwealth in political union with the United States. The Covenant grants the CNMI the right of self-governance over internal affairs and grants the United States complete responsibility and authority for matters relating to foreign affairs and defense affecting the CNMI. The Covenant initially made many federal laws applicable to the CNMI, including laws that provide federal services and financial assistance programs. The Covenant preserved the CNMI’s exemption from certain federal laws that had previously been inapplicable to the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, including federal immigration laws and certain federal minimum wage provisions. However, under the terms of the Covenant, the U.S. government has the right to apply federal law in these exempted areas without the consent of the CNMI government. The U.S. government enacted the recent federal immigration legislation under this authority. Three DHS components—CBP, ICE, and USCIS—have responsibility for federal immigration and border control. Customs and Border Protection. CBP is the lead federal agency charged with keeping terrorists, criminals, and inadmissible aliens out of the country while facilitating the flow of legitimate travel and commerce at the nation’s borders. Prior to international passengers’ arrival in the United States, CBP officers are required to cross-check passenger information, which air and sea carriers submit electronically prior to departures from foreign ports, against law enforcement databases. On arrival, the passengers are subject to immigration inspections of visas, passports, and biometric data. Generally, international passengers must present a U.S. passport, permanent resident card, foreign passport, or foreign passport containing a State-issued visa. Federal regulations require that international airports provide facilities for the inspection of aliens and provide office and other space for the sole use of federal officials working at the airport. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE is responsible for enforcing immigration laws within the United States, including, but not limited to, identifying, apprehending, detaining, and removing aliens who commit crimes and aliens who are unlawfully present in the United States. ICE’s Office of Investigations investigates offenses, both criminal and administrative, such as human trafficking, human rights violations, human smuggling, narcotics, weapons, and other types of smuggling, and financial crimes. ICE’s Office of Detention and Removal Operations is the primary enforcement arm within ICE for the identification, apprehension, and removal of aliens unlawfully in the United States. The Office of Detention and Removal’s priority is to detain aliens that pose a risk to the community and those that may abscond and not appear for their immigration hearing. Consequently, the office uses detention space to hold certain aliens while processing them for removal or until their scheduled hearing date. ICE acquires detention space by negotiating intergovernmental service agreements with state and local detention facilities, using federal facilities, and contracting with private service contracting facilities. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS processes applications for immigration benefits—that is, the ability of aliens to live, and in some cases to work, in the United States permanently or temporarily or to apply for citizenship. Most applications for immigration benefits can be classified into three major categories: family-based, employment-based, and humanitarian-based. Family-based applications are filed by U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens to establish their relationships to certain alien relatives, such as a spouse, parent, or minor child, who wish to immigrate to the United States. Employment-based applications include petitions filed by employers for aliens to enter the United States temporarily as nonimmigrant workers for temporary work or training or as immigrants for permanent work. USCIS reviews petitions for certain nonimmigrant workers against criteria such as whether the petition is accompanied by a certified determination from DOL, whether the employer is eligible to employ a nonimmigrant worker, whether the position is a specialty occupation, and whether the prospective nonimmigrant worker is qualified for the position. Humanitarian-based applications include applications for asylum or refugee status filed by aliens who fear persecution in their home countries. USCIS also processes applications for Temporary Protected Status by aliens affected by natural disasters or other temporary emergency conditions for employment authorization and applications for adjustment of status to lawful permanent residence by alien beneficiaries of family-or employment-based immigrant petitions who are lawfully present in the United States. In addition, the Secretary of Homeland Security has delegated to all DHS components certain immigration authorities, such as authority to grant parole—that is, official permission for an otherwise inadmissible alien to be physically present in the United States temporarily. For example, CBP can grant visitors entry into the United States under the Secretary’s parole authority, and USCIS can issue advance parole to aliens in the United States who need to travel abroad and return and whose conditions of stay do not otherwise allow for readmission if they depart. DHS also operates the U.S. Visa Waiver Program. Under this program, foreign nationals from 36 countries may qualify for temporary entry to the United States with a valid passport from their own country. DOL responsibilities under its labor certification programs include ensuring that U.S. workers are not adversely affected by the hiring of nonimmigrant and immigrant workers. Certain employers must attest to taking certain steps, depending on the particular labor certification program, such as notifying all employees of the intention to hire foreign workers and offering their foreign workers the same benefits as U.S. workers. For most labor certification programs, DOL certifies eligible foreign workers to work in the United States on a permanent or temporary basis if it determines that qualified U.S. workers are not available to perform the work and that the employment of the foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers similarly employed. State has responsibility for issuing visas to foreign nationals who wish to come to the United States on a temporary or permanent basis. State’s process for determining who will be issued or refused a visa comprises several steps, including documentation reviews, in-person interviews, collection of biometrics, and cross-referencing an applicant’s name against a database that U.S. embassies or consulates (posts) use to access critical information for visa adjudication. Each stage of the visa process varies in length depending on a post’s applicant pool and the number of visa applications that a post receives. Figure 1 shows the responsibilities of the DHS components and of DOL and State related to U.S. immigration and border control. Ste issu visas thllow lien to pply for dmission t the order. ICE i reponle for the enforcement of immigrtion l within the interior of the United Ste, inclding the identifi- ction, pprehenion, detention, nd removl of criminlien. USCIS process lien’ ppliction for immigrtion enefit (the ability to live, nd in ome cas work, in the United Ste permnently or temporrily). Except where not reqired te, DOL reqire employer to flly tet the labor mrket for U.S. worker nd ensure tht U.S. worker re not dverely ffected y the hiring of nonimmigrnt nd immigrnt worker. Under U.S. immigration law, noncitizens may apply for U.S. entry visas either as nonimmigrants or as immigrants intending to reside permanently. The nonimmigrant categories for temporary admission include workers who meet certain requirements, visitors for business or pleasure, and treaty investors, among others. The immigrant categories include permanent immigrant investors, family-based, and various employment- based categories for admission to the United States as lawful permanent residents permitted to work in the United States. Following are descriptions of the nonimmigrant categories for temporary admission. Foreign workers. U.S. immigration law provides for several types of visas for nonimmigrant workers and their families—H visas and certain others—and sets caps for two types of H visas, H-1B and H-2B. In addition to providing for nonimmigrant visas, federal law provides for permanent employer-sponsored immigrant visas for individuals seeking to reside permanently in the United States. Visitors. Under federal law, visitors may come to the United States for business on a B-1 visa, for pleasure on a B-2 visa, or for business or pleasure on a combined B-1/B-2 visa. Visitors with B visas are normally admitted for a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 1 year. Eligible nationals of the 36 countries included in the general U.S. Visa Waiver Program may stay for up to 90 days for business or pleasure in the United States without obtaining a nonimmigrant visa. Foreign investors. Federal law allows foreign investors to enter the United States as nonimmigrants under treaty investor status with an E-2 visa. Treaty investors must invest a substantial amount of capital in a bona fide enterprise in the United States, must be seeking entry solely to develop and direct the enterprise, and must intend to depart the United States when their treaty investor status ends.