After favorable consideration by Congress. that Covenant. which established the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in political union with the United States. was signed into law in 1976 by President Gerald Ford. During the negotiations over the Covenant. island officials expressed concern about possible adverse effects on their culture and economic development that could come from application of certain U.S. laws. In response. the Marianas government was given temporary responsibility for determining minimum wage laws. immigration standards. and an income tax system. Beginning in the late 1980s. the CNMI focused on developing a garment industry and used its local control of immigration policy to allow for the recruitment and importation of foreign guest workers. But there were increasing reports of abuses. For example. after visiting the islands in July. 1997. the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform reported it had found problems "ranging from bureaucratic inefficiencies to labor abuses to an unsustainable economic. social and political system that is antithetical to most American values." including exploitation of foreign workers with retaliation against protesters. suppression of basic freedoms. and flagrant abuses of household workers. agricultural workers. and bar girls. The Commission said the CNMIs guestworker policy had created major policy problems and resulted in a twoclass system where the majority of workers were denied political and social rights. That and similar reports prompted efforts to achieve reforms through Federal legislation. and both the George H.
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immigration Immigration