Parole In Place Workshops

See this article: http://www.mvariety.com/community-bulletin/parole-in-place-workshops.php

Oh the News!

The Saipan Tribune gives a sketchy report about a lawsuit recently filed:

where: the 9th Circuit (this is a court of limited jurisdiction and you can't usually initiate cases there)

Plaintiff: National Chamorro Association of the Mariana Islands/president Glenn H. Manglona. This organization is so well known that no one has heard of it until today's newspaper article came out. (Well, maybe in Rota?)

Represented by/Attorneys/Co Plaintiffs: Robin Hood International Human Rights Legal Defense Fund and Paul Risenhoover. OMG! One federal judge said Paul Risenhoover is "a fraudulent opportunist."

Judge Batts made clear she viewed Mr. Risenhoover, an Oklahoma native who is about 30, as an unsavory character. She described him as a fervent anti-Communist who was deemed to be so unreliable by the Government that it ultimately stopped its dealings with him, fearing he would become a liability at trial....

[S]he said in her opinion that Mr. Risenhoover, who speaks Mandarin Chinese, English and Hebrew and claims to be a law school graduate who has not passed the bar, may have also been involved in other illegal activities, including other illegal organ sales and a fraud scheme on the Internet.

And if all that isn't enough, the lawsuit itself sounds ridiculous. The Trib says the complaint is 200 pages! That's long by any legal standard.

And some highlights to emphasize just how ludicrous this is:

They're also filing in international court on behalf of native Chamorros, Carolinians and Formosans???

The 9th circuit lawsuit apparently challenges whether the US Congress had the authority to enter into the Covenant. (Please read the US Constitution and the power bestowed on Congress regarding foreign affairs, territories, and commerce)

5th and 14th amendment claims for takings violations without compensation /impairment of contracts. (Is there any foreign worker here with a contract under CNMI law that was in effect on 11/28/2009 for a period that would last beyond 11/27/2011? I doubt it. Most CNMI contracts were for one year, some for two. But longer?)

And the lawsuit claims we have a right to cheap foreign labor under CNMI control because otherwise we may not be able to live--the CNRA constitutes a deprivation of the right to life!

What nonsense.

(Of course, Wendy beat me to this, and she has the pleadings available for review. I especially like that they have highlighted portions in yellow, and green, and red, and blue...OMG!)

Short Takes

The tangentangen is full of brown, crackling, dried seed pods. Breadfruit trees are laden with huge ripe fruits. The nights are still cool and comfortable for sleeping, but the days have become hot and close--the kind of heat that leeches the energy out of you and makes you want to take a nap.
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Immigration -- There may be a court challenge to the CNMI's recent enactment, P.L. 17-1. If you are an alien in the CNMI or an employer of foreign workers in the CNMI, and you want to join forces in challenging the law, you might see a lawyer now. Low income persons can apply for help at MLSC. Others with middle or more income could check private lawyers like Mark Hanson, Rob Torres, Steve Woodruff, Colin Thompson, Richard Pierce (or any attorney of your choice).

CNMI politics--Still as disruptive as ever. The AG's office seems to be an arm of the Governor's Office, rather than an office serving the interests of the people. I now favor an independently elected AG. I worried that this would only make the office more political; but it now seems to be so political that "more" is impossible. I worried that legal work is not well-understood by the community and the opinions publicly stated would often lead to unconstitutional and unfair results; but the office is being used for unconstitutional and unfair results in the hands of the Governor, without accountability, so the people may be a better choice! I realize that the people re-elected the Governor, so there is little likelihood of real improvement with an elected AG; but it is remotely possible that such election would provide a measure of independence that is currently not present, and that would be healthy.

The CNMI budget--We're going to see the new CNMI Constitutional provision in play this year, and it won't be pretty. Governor Fitial will have a proposed budget by April 1. But the pressure on the Legislature to pass a budget by October 1 may force concessions no one likes.

Some ideas for what our CNMI Legislature could be focusing on now:
1. We have too many government employees--and the cuts should be at the top first, where expense is greatest. Constitutional protections may apply to those in office, but if our CNMI Congress would pass legislation now that lowers these salaries, we will at least see savings in the future. Do it!
2. They could change to a part-time Legislature. And eliminate the municipal councils. We don't need so much government. We can't afford so much government.
3. They could LEGISLATE a list of essential public services, so that the Governor cannot unilaterally decide who gets money and who doesn't based on his own preferences, all under the guise of what is essential, if and when the budget doesn't pass. No more continuing resolution.

We want a rational process, not unmitigated and unrestricted politics.

Community--The SSHS Manta Ray Band concerts on 3/26 and 3/27 were a success. Great performances, reasonably good attendance, successful fundraising. Just one small complaint: fundraising should be transparent. When you've set a specific goal ($140,000) for your trip to Carnegie Hall, you should be telling and showing exactly how close you are to the goal, on a regular basis. You shouldn't dodge specific questions like 'how much more do you need to reach your goal?'with vague assertions like 'we're close.'

Power Struggle -umbrella permits

I've written another lengthy blog post with legal analysis, this time about the power struggle over umbrella permits, at the Day In Court blog.

I see more fruitless resistance by the Fitial Administration, to the harm of our community, including alien workers, employers, and the rest of us. We're all suffering from the uncertainty. We're all suffering from the wasted precious resources of our local government. We're all suffering from the focus on this problem when so many other issues need our local government's attention.

In Labor, On Labor

I've written an analysis about Jacinta Kaipat's latest ploy to have our CNMI Legislature enact hiring "benchmarks" to "prioritize" hiring U.S. citizens. It's posted at the MLSC blog, DAY IN COURT.

EDIT: Link now working. The link to the original Marianas Variety article in that post doesn't work just yet, but I'm trying to get that fixed. (You'd think it would be easy, but alas--computer issues today.)

The federalization of immigration brings with it a host of changes, including the need to change our thinking to equal opportunity, non-discriminatory employment practices. Obviously, some people are having a much harder time letting go of the past than others.

Eventually, though, I think we will have a community that is more self-sufficient than at present. I think we will have more opportunities for better jobs for everyone here. I hope that what foreign workers we have in the future will have rights and jobs that pay for the value of their services. This will all take some committment to free and fair enterprise.

If we build our community on values that embrace equality, freedom, environmental protection, and human dignity, we should be able to surface, breathe, and rescue ourselves from the current precarious, drowning situation we are now in. At least, that's what I hope and believe.

"Where Is Our Great Wall" said

This excellent comment was buried in one of the threads, and I think it deserves a lot more light of day.

I agree with you Jane regarding the romantisizing of our recent past. I left this island nearly 20 years ago and just recently returned.

I don't even see anything close to the Great Wall or the Pyramids (other than the empty GIG that was once a thriving disco that rivaled anything in the region). The La Fiesta was not dependent on cheap labor and has been empty for years while we had access to cheap labor.

What I did see upon returning has been eye opening and far from anything I would revel in and consider great development and a prosperous economy. I found destroyed reefs and barren lagoons (in comparison to 20+ years ago). I found empty shells of 30 plus garment warehouses. I found empty strip malls. I discovered that around 70% of those I grew up with and went to school out here with no longer live here. They have families elsewhere. I saw that nearly 90% of the waitstaff, front desk clerks, bartenders,etc were guest workers (I was a waiter 25 years ago and my pals were front desk and housekeeping). I noticed that all the Mom and Pop stores that had once been owned by me and my friends Moms and Pops were now owned by foreign investors. Diego's Mart, Pop's Store, Morgans Mini Mart, Carmen Safeway, Tenda Store, Aldan's Gas Station, Farmers Market, etc. Same with the bars and restaurants like Ship Ashore, House of Chang, Chamorro Village, Town & Country, Chamorro House, etc are all replaced with foreign owned businesses. I noticed the streets that used to be filled with Japanese Tourist were now empty. The golf courses designed 20 years ago by Jack Nicolas were now unkempt. The hotels that used to average 90% occupancy now ran at around 50%. The Jets that used to fly between here and Guam are now prop plans. Direct flights to Japan that used to fly in and out 3 times a day down to 2 twice a week.

Where is our great wall? We had none. 30 years ago we could have built something great.

We had geographic edge with Japan only 2 hours away. We had great resorts and golf courses that were maintained and rivaled those in other areas of the pacific. We had relationships with agents and airlines that secured set routes and put us int he position to be the HUB for the Pacific region. We had locally run businesses and local workers at all levels that kept the money in our economy and didn't funnel it all out. We had a solid foundation birthed of the Covenant to maintain all of this and grow to be prosperous.

What happened?

We got greedy and we got led by some terribly short sighted leaders.

Our downfall is not to blamed on federalization of immigration. It is blamed on our own doing. We embraced garment. We spent millions on lobbyist. We exploited foreign labor and used guest workers to replace local labor rather than filling gaps and instead replaced our local workforce. We pulled in foreign businesses at the expense of local entrepreneurship. We doled out public land to foreign investors instead of catering to local investors. Our leaders did this because they could negotiate kickbacks and become middlemen in the schemes. Do land swaps and make millions overnight.

3 days ago the federal government took control of immigration in the CNMI; 27 years ago we destroyed this economy.

December 1, 2009 2:11 PM

I like this comment, not because it starts out by agreeing with me, but because of the specifics. It makes me sad, though, to contemplate the lost opportunities. Still hoping that--yes, we can--make it right.

November 28-Day 1 of U.S. Immigration

It's almost the end of the day. I've been out and about--to the post office, the store, Garapan, now Java Joe's.

Nothing seems any different.

The world did not end with the federalization of the CNMI's immigration. The world did not magically improve either.

We'll have to wait and see how things develop over the next few years. This will be a slow process.

Printer Ribbon

We can send Howard Willens to Washington, D.C. the minute we hear that the Court has dismissed the initial 2 counts of the case fighting federalization of our CNMI immigration.

But we are helpless to obtain printer ribbon to issue permits to the people here trying to renew their entry permits.

For about 2 weeks now, our office has been hearing how CNMI Immigration doesn't yet have the renewal permits ready because they're still waiting on printer ribbon. Yeah. Right.

Five More Years... and other news...and some thoughts.

1. Fitial is being re-elected Governor of the CNMI. He's ahead by 500+ votes, and it seems unlikely (although not impossible) that the absentee ballots will change the outcome of the run-off election.

My previous post on the elections included these:
2009-11-02 The candidates
2009-11-19 On the Spoils System


2. Fitial's lawsuit has been dismissed. It challenged the federalization of the CNMI's immigration, claiming the Consolidated Natural Resources Act violated the Covenant by infringing the CNMI's right of self-government.

Some of my previous posts on this subject, including analysis of the merits of the lawsuit, are here:
2008-12-17 A brief recap of the pending motions
2009-03-11 On the amicus brief


I want to say bad news (Fitial's re-election), good news (dismissal of the federalization lawsuit), but I am reminded of the Chinese story about tao.

What I see as good is that we had an election and we will have a Governor chosen by more than 50% of the people.

What I see as good is that we have a system of justice where anyone can make their claim and have a judge review it, based on written laws and principles.

Who knows? Perhaps it will take 5 more years of Benigno Fitial for us to learn a bit more about the spoils system and what its harms are.

We will have the same 5 years in transition to U.S. immigration. We'll see how it unfolds.

Umbrella Permits-WIP

There's been a lot of talk about umbrella permits, and lots of flak in the newspapers and on blogs. Opinions vary.

I want to weigh in on the subject. I want to be intelligent and perceptive about it. But it is impossible to do so because the legal basis for the "news" and the full terms of the Umbrella Permits are still a work-in-progress.

There is a CNMI "protocol" written by Howard Willens. I do not think this protocol has the force and effect of law; it is more like a guide or roadmap to help everyone understand how the CNMI administration is proceeding as to the transition to federal immigration.

The protocol, available at the CNMI Department of Labor's site does not mention the term "umbrella permit." Each of the immigration entry classifications is described, and a catch-all "other categories" classification is also included. None of these match up with the description of the "umbrella permit" as given so far verbally by Deanne Siemer.

And there is the whole question about Labor issuing permits that have any effect as entry permits.

I am studying it all. I am also awaiting the regs or whatever it is Attorney General Ed Buckingham is working on.

And I will have opinions, as well as analysis.

But I'm not going to give an opinion on the hot air that has been blowing all over Saipan. [EDIT: By this, I mostly mean Deanne and Maya's rah-rah talk. Wendy is just fanning it back as a means of getting some relief.) The hot air means nothing.

Let's wait for the fine print. Then we'll have something to talk about.

On CNMI Immigration and Federalization of It

Ken Phillips is blogging again at SOSaipan. Good thing. From him, we get this lovely observation:

"This whole transition to federal control has had a somewhat surreal quality, like a community theater production of Waiting for Godot under the palms."

And in today's Marianas Variety newspaper, we get Diego Benevente. His take is that 1) the federalization law will be beneficial "in the long run;" 2) but the time to prepare for it is too short.

Several thoughts come clashing into my head at once on reading this:
* we'll have had 1 and 1/2 years to prepare for it by 11/28/2009. If we can't do the job in that amount of time, more time won't help.
* when I say we, I mean we--both the CNMI and the U.S. The U.S. government is our government, just as the CNMI government is our government.
* The CNMI has done little to prepare for federalization of our immigration except complain and try to stop it.
* Diego Benevente and other CNMI politicians are in a position to criticize the U.S. government for not getting things done? The guys who took years to pass a budget? The guys who never corrected the CNMI's immigration issues in decades?

Diego Benevente complains about the uncertainty caused by the change to U.S. immigration. There is a simple solution to help address this concern. The CNMI Legislature can pass a law that grants the maximum status of two years to aliens who are here. This would protect our current labor force without violating the CNRA cap on new admissions; it would provide stabiilty and a means for planning for businesses and people; it would lessen anxiety.

It might even go a long way toward redressing some of the grievances our alien workers have against us.

Would the CNMI Legislature do something this simple? Something within their means? Or will they only be concerned about their image in the newspapers? Never mind the people who have lived here for many years and who may now be out of status due to circumstances. Never mind that we still have some control and the means to take precautions. Better to rant about the predictions of a coming storm than put up typhoon shutters and lay in stores of water and candles. Better to complain about the U.S. not doing what it needs to do; better to seek delay of what is "beneficial" to the CNMI!

Somebody remind me...

Exactly what is Cinta Kaipat's position, that she can remove the Director of Labor from his position and appoint someone else in his place?

Oh yeah. Deputy Secretary of Labor. Wendy pretty much covers the topic, but I want to know why Barry has turned into a wimp and won't say anything. Is a job worth that?

Subcommittee Hearing-GAO testimony & video link

Interested in the testimony presented at the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife--that's a subcommittee of the Committee on Natural Resources, House of Representatives? This is the hearing on the impact and progress of federalizing the CNMI's immigration pursuant to P.L. 110-229.

While we wait for Wendy to report at Unheard No More, here's something to read:
GAO testimony about its position: Coordinated Federal Decisions and Additional Data are Needed to Manage Potential Economic Impact of Applying U.S. Immigration Law.

The chart on the first page of the attachment to the testimony is a good graphic summary of P.L. 110-229.

You can also get the full sense of the flow of the hearing by this listing of witnesses: subcommittee panel listing and by watching a video of the hearing, also at this link.

Thanks to Dan MacMeekin.