Guess who’s coming to Dinner

The Clinton policy has changed from indifference to sympathy insofar as the fate of Kosovars are concerned. These are refugees who needed help after being displaced by tyrant Slobodan Milosevic’s ethnic cleansing.

The refugees would be put up with families, relatives and friends until the war in Yugoslavia subsides and the opportunity arises for their eventual return home. It would take a while before the Kosovo war comes to a halt if it doesn’t spread like wildfire. It may be a prolonged war quite similar to the Vietnam experience as analyzed by former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara.

Across the Pacific, Tinian’s North Field turns into a “Tent City” for illegal immigrants or boat people fleeing Fujian province in mainland China. The 142 Chinese immigrants now temporarily situated at the San Jose Dock will eventually be moved to North Field as INS reviews their documents for eventual repatriation. Rumors has it too that the 1,000 Chinese immigrants now on Guam would join their countrymen on Tinian hopefully soon.

An INS official was correct in saying that with calm Pacific waters at this time of the year, more boat people may be headed our way from Fujian and other Chinese provinces. With the northern end of Tinian being transformed into a Tent City, we hope INS refrains from accepting any Tom, Dick and Harry from mainland China on the basis that the federal government has designated the place as temporary haven for people fleeing their country.

It’s obvious that the plight of illegal immigrants’ is to sail for freedom regardless of the means. While we take freedom for granted they fork-out anywhere between $10,000-20,000 to get to the land of the free. The US Department of State should meet with mainland Chinese officials and insist that they patrol their waters to discourage any further smuggling of warm human bodies.

We hope too that all local government expenditure to attend to the needs of illegal immigrants are reimbursed. The channeling of local resources such as police officers, customs, immigration and health officials to our southern neighbor is quite substantial against the tide of huge decline in revenue generation. For now, the situation is a bit confusing and frustrating and both sides of the Pacific must contend with the query “Guess who’s coming to Dinner”–war refugees and deportees.