Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero made the case for lifting H-2B visa restrictions on Guam during a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

The critical shortage of skilled foreign labor for the island's construction industry was the sole focus of her testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources.

The governor asked committee members "for legislative or administrative clarification that Guam, along with our sister territory of the Northern Mariana Islands, be exempted from prohibitions in accessing foreign labor from the Philippines."

Her testimony echoed the remarks she made Tuesday to the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Leon Guerrero spoke in support of H.R. 560, a bill by CNMI Del. Gregorio Sablan. The delegate is vice chairman of the committee's insular affairs subcommittee and he presided over the hearing.

Sablan's bill seeks to exempt the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands from President Donald Trump's decision to revoke "the humanitarian parole" the Obama administration granted to certain stateless residents of the commonwealth. That December 2018 parole decision threatens to force approximately 1,500 people to leave the CNMI by June.

In his opening remarks, Sablan said the Department of Homeland Security decision to remove the Philippines as a source of foreign workers through H-2B visa program was taken without consulting the Marianas. He said the ban comes at a bad time for the CNMI, which is recovering from a series of typhoons and "there is a critical need for construction workers to repair and rebuild."

Guam Del. Michael San Nicolas, who sits on the committee, asked Leon Guerrero for clarification. He asked, rhetorically, if her intent was "to displace the American workforce ... in trying to try and pursue an H-2B remedy."

"Absolutely not," Leon Guerrero said. "Our intent in getting H-2 workers is to expand our economy, is to fortify our economy, is to grow our economy. And it is also to harden national security on our islands."

Although DHS cited the problem of human trafficking and the 40 percent overstay rate in its decision to remove the Philippines from the list of H-2B eligible nations, the governor said, "this is not the case for Guam."

"The island's rate of H-2B workers who intentionally overstay is negligible," she said, "and there are no known trafficking cases involving Philippine citizens."

'Seemingly arbitrary denial' of visas

The H-2B restrictions go beyond the recent ban imposed by Homeland Security, said the governor.

She told the committee that beginning in late 2015, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services made a "seemingly arbitrary denial of nearly all H-2B petitions for Guam" that has led to a severe shortage of skilled foreign labor.

Guam went from a yearly average of 1,500 H-2B workers prior to 2015 to none in May 2018. Leon Guerrero called that "unprecedented."

The governor acknowledged that the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act partially addressed this issue by including language to allow exemptions for workers needed for the military buildup.

"However, uncertainty of approvals on the civilian side has led to delays in ongoing projects and discouraged contractors from bidding on new ones," the governor said.

The labor shortage has driven up construction costs, stifled private-sector development, and caused irreparable harm to the local economy and the military buildup, she said.

"We welcome the military buildup and the economic impact it will bring," Leon Guerrero said, "but it must be done at a pace that will benefit our local people, our island, and the U.S. military."

She called on the committee to amend the 2020 defense spending legislation "to allow for the approval of workers from the Philippines, notwithstanding" the ban currently imposed by Homeland Security.

"All projects on Guam must be considered as associated with the military realignment," the governor argued, and that exemption should be included in the NDAA.