Unknown to many, the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources had invited not only CNMI government and business leaders but also members from local non-government social service and human rights advocacy groups, who spilled the beans on human and sex trafficking cases in the Commonwealth during a hearing Thursday, boosting the argument of a serious lack of an effective immigration system in the CNMI.
Narrating a number of documented cases of human trafficking and labor and immigration abuses in the CNMI before the senate panel were Saipan residents Lauri Ogumoro, social worker at Karidat and manager of Guma Esperanza-House of Hope shelter of battered women, and human rights advocate Sister Stella Mangona of Good Shepherd.
Sitting along with them on the senate panel was a 23-year-old sex trafficking victim in the CNMI, identified as Kayleen Entena from the Philippines.
“There's something wrong with the system. We can't continue the way we are. I do know that people's lives are destroyed,” Ogumoro told the U.S. Senate committee during the hearing.
Human trafficking
Ogumoro, who is originally from Oregon and has lived on Saipan for 25 years, cited that just very recently, as she was leaving for D.C., a Chinese woman who is allegedly a victim of human trafficking, was referred to the House of Hope.Asked by Sen. Daniel Akaka on its prevalence, Ogumoro said Guma Esperance has been serving victims of human trafficking since 2005.
In 2006, it received 30 victims of the alleged crime.
Compared with other U.S. territories, this figure is far way up, with American Samoa recording three last year, Hawaii, two; and Guam, zero, she said.
She cited that the U.S. Department of Justice itself considers the CNMI a hot spot for human trafficking due to its close proximity to many Asian countries and its lax immigration system.
“It's so easy to bring in tourists [in the CNMI]. The system has to be fixed,” said Ogumoro.
In her 11-page position paper submitted to the panel, Ogumoro said that the 30 victims last year included only four cases identified by local enforcements.
He said those numbers handled by federal law enforcement were referred to Guam for safe shelter.
She cited the following cases:
- First case was a 43-year-old Chinese woman who ran away from her employers after having been assaulted. She arrived on Saipan in late 2004 to work as a babysitter but her contract said she was a waitress on Tinian. She worked on Saipan for 20-21 hours a day, cooking, cleaning, and babysitting, not only for her employer but also for other people who lived in an apartment. She had no day-off. She was promised a $250 salary a month. She was paid twice but deductions were taken from her salary, giving her a total net pay for four months of $255. She ended up paying her boss for her plane ticket from China and CNMI labor processing fee. She had begged to be sent home but was told that if she ran away, she would be found, her body “dumped” in the ocean, and her family would be informed that she was smuggled to Guam.
- In September 2005, two women from the Philippines were accommodated at the center. Both were promised $400 a month salary. They came on tourist permits, informing Immigration that they were niece and the girlfriend of their male employer/trafficker. They came in early morning and were escorted to their rooms in a massage/karaoke parlor. In the afternoon, they were given a box of condoms and a box of yellow pills. Later that afternoon, a Korean male customer knocked on the door of one of the two women, who eventually raped her. The victim said she was terrified and shocked at what was happening. She said that four male customers came that day and raped her. Her companion suffered a similar experience. They escaped the forced prostitution after 10 days with the help of their Filipino customers.
Other cases involved seven women, including two minors, from the Philippines, who who were allegedly asked to perform lewd acts while working as dancers at two nightclubs on Saipan.
The case also involved a number of labor abuses relating to salary and living condition.
Ogumoro also cited the recent arrival of seven Chinese women, who expected to work as commercial cleaners, restaurant workers, and garment worker but were allegedly offered instead by their recruiter to work as prostitutes on Tinian.
“Is this the tip of the iceberg? Are these isolated cases? There is some belief on island that the women who report such schemes .[want] to get benefits.and go to United States. Not all victims of human trafficking, contrary to popular belief, want to go to the United States. They are not looking for T-visas, most have never heard of such a thing,” said Ogumoro.
She said there is a seeming complacency in the community over this issue.
“When I talk with community members and tell them about human trafficking and what is happening to these young women., the response is much the same, 'of he's been doing that for years, and that's just the way it is.' This complacency among community members would no doubt be different if these young women were women from the Commonwealth being trafficked into China or the Philippines.,” she said.
Sponsorship
In her testimony, Ogumoro said that many referred nonresident clients were engaged in an illegal scheme of “sponsorship,” which she said ranges from 500 to 5,000 “depending on who you talk to.”
“Some in the Commonwealth will make the charge that the United States has a lot of undocumented workers, too. While this is true, the situations are not really similar. Unfortunately, the islands of the Commonwealth do not allow an undocumented workers to move freely from island to island to find work. The undocumented worker cannot make it back across the border to his or her homeland. Unfortunately, he or she remains on island, most living in plain sight of Commonwealth authorities,” she said.
She said that in the last two years, 54 percent of women served though Guma Esperanza are immigrant women, most of whom met their husbands on Saipan.
“Sometimes, the battered woman tells us she is illegal and therefore usually chooses to only stay briefly in the shelter.Some battered immigrant women report that they do not have a job but are 'sponsored' by friends or relatives. Sponsorship arrangements are strictly prohibited by CNMI regulations, but they are not uncommon nonetheless,” she said.
Under this scheme, the 'sponsor' signs documents indicating that he or she will be the employer, even though there is no genuine job or wages.
This gives these women a legal status to remain in the CNMI.
“One woman reported paying $2,000 to a sponsor only to have the sponsor ran away with her money,” she said, noting that there is no provision in the current CNMI immigration law to protect battered non-resident women married to U.S. citizens.
“Therefore, the threats by a U.S. citizen spouse to send an immigrant [nonresident] woman back home is more than just words. These are the kinds of threats that force women to stay in abusive relationships. The threat of taking their U.S. citizen children to Guam or the U.S. mainland so she will not be able to see them is very real,” she said.
She cited that in November 2006, a 39-year old Chinese woman was brought to the shelter as a victim of domestic violence. She came to Saipan as tourist with the purpose of marrying a U.S. citizen so she would become IR or immediate relative and be able to find work.
This woman left the shelter before she could be helped but returned to the shelter two days later, saying her husband continued to hurt her.
“She again left the shelter before we could help her. Is this story indicative of more out there? I do not know. What I do know is that these women are vulnerable and afraid to utilize the system that is designed to protect them,” said Ogumoro.
In her remarks, Oguromo said that her testimony aims “to offer a glimpse of the conditions of many living in the Commonwealth.”
“I will not offer my personal opinions as to the issue of federal takeover of CNMI immigration.I offer this testimony as a social worker and an advocate for women,” she said.
She said her testimony has the support of Catholic Bishop Thomas A. Camacho “in order to share with you some of the stories of the women served by Karidat.”
Karidat operates under the auspices of the Catholic Church Diocese of Chalan Kanoa.
'Let go of status quo'
During the committee hearing, Ogumoro said that while she understands the CNMI's hold on the current system, it has to let go of the status quo if it wants a better society.
She likened the situation to a battered woman who finds it hard to leave her husband.
“We often say to women we counsel: I know you love your husband but you can't continue to stay with him if he is hurting you. The CNMI society is hurting. Change in the system is needed,” said Ogumoro.
In her closing remarks, she said, “Many in the Commonwealth are afraid to speak out, for fear of reprisals to themselves or family members. I believe it is a matter of conscience. The abuses described.are not representatives of indigenous values nor of Catholic social justice. If we do not speak out to correct the wrongs in our islands, we will lose who we are as Chamorros, Carolinians, and Americans.”
Third class citizens
Sister Stella Mangona, fondly called Sister Stella in the community, said in her six-page testimony that the temporary nonresident workers program in the CNMI has “effectively created a permanent underclass of disenfranchised persons.”
“If you have lived somewhere for 20 years, it really is your home, but these workers have no official status of belonging. They are valued employees with stable employment histories, U.S. citizen children going to public schools, deep roots in the community, but no possibility of adjusting their year-to-year vulnerable, temporary status except by marrying a local person,” she said.
Sister Stella, who moved to Saipan from Guam in 1999 as counselor over reports of abuses against immigrant women on Saipan, said that in her counseling, she would encounter five cases of “contract marriages” a year where nonresident workers marry a U.S. citizen after the payment of a fee.
“I believe that the ones I actually see are only the tip of the iceberg,” she said.
'Please revise requirements'
Entena, who confessed being a victim of sex trafficking on Saipan, asked the Senate panel “to please help change the way the government functions in the CNMI.”
Entena is one of the two women who arrived as tourists on Saipan in 2005 and was forced into prostitution by her employer.
“Four men raped me . on my first day in Saipan. This kind of thing went on for almost 10 days to me and the other girl from the Philippines. We tried to run away twice but they were always at the front.” she said.
“I wanted to kill myself, but the girl with me told me, 'don't do that, we came here together, God is with us and He will help us.She told me we have to be strong. She said, 'I have a son and I need to be strong because of my son. You, you are the eldest in your family so you need to be strong, too. When we have the opportunity, we will run away,” she said.
In her two-page testimony, Entena said she hopes that the CNMI Immigration would “revise or make their requirements stricter especially for entering Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.”
“I am hoping that this kind of illegal system will stop, the way it happened to me, the way I was treated. I do not want this to happen to anyone. I know there are women out in the community like me. They are just afraid to speak because they don't know where to go or just afraid because they have to support their family back home. Please help change the way the government functions in the CNMI. If there is change or people are not held responsible for their actions then it will continue to happen to innocent victims. I hope you will hear my wish. I am forever grateful,” said Entena, who at one point during her testimony appeared teary-eyed and her voice was cracking.
The Senate hearing was led by committee chair Sen. Jeff Bingaman and Sen. Daniel Akaka.
A live telecast of the hearing was seen online on Friday, 1230am to about 3am Saipan time.
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