CNMI vs USA Motion to Dismisss, Files 19-1

8/14/2019 CNMI vs USA Motion to Dismisss, Files 19-1

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

____________________________________

)

COMMONWEALTH OF THE )

NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS, ))

Plaintiff, )

)

v. ) 08-CV-01572 (PLF)

)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, et al. )

)

Defendants. )

____________________________________)

DEFENDANTS MOTION TO DISMISS

Defendants, the United States of America; Michael Chertoff, Secretary of the Department

of Homeland Security (DHS); DHS; Elaine Chao, Secretary of the Department of Labor

(DOL); and DOL (collectively United States), submit the following memorandum in support

of their motion, pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6), to dismiss the

Complaint filed by the Plaintiff, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI or

the Commonwealth).

The CNMI, an unincorporated territory of the United States, requests that this Court

declare that Title VII of the Consolidated Natural Resources Act, Pub. L. No. 110-229, Title VII,

Subtitle A, 122 Stat. 754, 853 (2008) (CNRA), violates the terms of the relationship agreement

between the parties, entitled Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana

Islands in Political Union with the United States of America, Pub. L. No. 94-241, 90 Stat. 263

(1976), as amended (Covenant). The CNRA applies the Immigration and Nationality Act and

other U.S. immigration laws to the CNMI beginning, at the earliest, in June 2009.

Case 1:08-cv-01572-PLF Document 19 Filed 12/15/2008 Page 1 of 4


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The action should be dismissed for four reasons: (1) the CNMI lacks standing to bring this

action because the injuries alleged by the CNMI are not concrete and particularized but are

instead speculative and hypothetical; (2) even if the alleged harms are not speculative, the injuries

alleged are too remote for the Court to adequately address them at this time, and thus the action is

not ripe; (3) the Governor of the CNMI lacks standing to bring this action on behalf of the CNMI

because he cannot show that he has a protected procedural interest that confers standing on him

to bring this action; and (4) even if the CNMI has met its minimum constitutional standing

requirements, the action should be dismissed because the Covenant, generally permits Congress

to apply federal law to the CNMI (Covenant 105), and expressly and unambiguously permits

Congress to apply the immigration and naturalization laws of the United States to the CNMI

(Covenant 503).

A memorandum of points and authorities accompanies this motion. The memorandum

attaches Exhibits A - D. The United States notes that Exhibit B is a partial document, consisting

of 65 pages. The original document is more than 100 pages, most of which are not relevant to

this action. However, upon request, the United States will provide paper copies of it or any other

Exhibit upon request.

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Dated: December 15, 2008 Respectfully submitted,

GREGORY G. KATSAS

Assistant Attorney General

DAVID J. KLINEDirector, District Court Section

Office of Immigration Litigation

VICTOR M. LAWRENCE

Principal Assistant Director

By: /s/ Theodore W. Atkinson

THEODORE W. ATKINSON

SAMUEL P. GO

DEREK C. JULIUS

United States Department of JusticeCivil Division, Office of Immigration Litigation

District Court Section

P. O. Box 868 Ben Franklin Station

Washington, DC 20044

Tel: (202) 532-4135

Fax: (202) 305-7000

E-mail: [email protected]



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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

The undersigned hereby certifies that on December 15, 2008, he served a copy of the

attached Defendants Motion to Dismiss, along with the accompanying Memorandum in Support

and Exhibits A - D, by e-mail and through the CM/ECF system, which caused the following to be

served by electronic means on the following:

David W. DeBruin

JENNER & BLOCK LLP

1099 New York Avenue, NW

Suite 900

Washington , DC 20001

Email: [email protected]

Sharmila Sohoni

JENNER & BLOCK LLP

1099 New York Avenue, NWSuite 900

Washington , DC 20001-4412


William M. Hohengarten

JENNER & BLOCK LLP

1099 New York Avenue, NW

Suite 900

Washington , DC 20001


Dated: December 15, 2008 /s/ Theodore W. Atkinson

THEODORE W. ATKINSON

United States Department of Justice


CNMI vs USA Motion to Dismisss, Files 19-1

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