No Tinian Dynasty shutdown seen despite immigration woes

Tuesday 6th of January 2015

The Tinian Casino Gaming Control Commission is not anticipating that the 15-year-old Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino will be shut down, even though U.S. Immigration denied 197 visa requests for its employees and it’s facing an indictment from the federal government.

TCGCC executive director Lucia Blanco-Maratita said the Commission recognizes the importance of Dynasty to Tinian’s economy.

She also said that Dynasty has been “working diligently with its new ownership towards regularizing its licensing status without resort to suspension or revocation of the casino gaming license.”

“While progress toward that goal has been made, the recent USCIS denials and the prospect of a closure of the casino by regulatory authorities outside the influence or control of the Gaming Commission presents a new and significant challenge,” she said.

She said TCGCC remains committed to taking every action within its authority to keep the Tinian Dynasty operational and to ensuring the integrity of the gaming conducted therein.

“To that end it is in constant communication with its casino licensee and its legal representatives and is assisting where it can to support their effort,” she said.

Dynasty remains as the only operating casino in the Northern Marianas. It has been in operation since 1998 and it was built in 1997 for about $120 million.

The denial of such a large number of visa petitions by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has led some political leaders to speculate this could lead to the closure of the casino-hotel.

CNMI lawmakers recently passed a resolution casting their support behind the struggling casino and vowed to provide any assistance that may lead to the resolution of the immigration issue.

Meanwhile, the casino’s employees have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. immigration officials and the federal government over the denial of their CW petitions.

CW-1 is a visa classification unique to the Northern Marianas. It was specifically designed to cater to temporary workers. Holders of a CW-1 visa can stay and work in the islands for a period of one year subject to renewal. Employees with expired CW-1 status are asked to depart the CNMI immediately.