Guam resident in exile, pleads for help

Guam resident Haiti K. Usar, 50, had only wanted to attend a friendly sports event last May on Saipan, but he ended up staying on the island much longer than he wished to.

Usar, who originally comes from Chuuk, said Guam Immigration denied him entry in May last year “for reasons I don’t understand.”

“I’ve been living on Guam since 1990. I’m a resident of Guam. My family is on Guam,” said Usar in an interview yesterday.

Further, he said that as a Chuukese, he is free to travel to and from the United States without visa.

Chuuk nationals are citizens of the Freely Associated States of Micronesia.

Usar said that Guam Immigration is intrigued over the fact that he has not changed his citizenship to U.S.

“I told them I want to remain a citizen of FSM, a FAS citizen. Besides, there’s no problem with me traveling, so why change my citizenship?” he said.

He said it was the second time that Guam had denied him entry. He said that in May 2003, he had left Guam for Chuuk to attend his grandson’s funeral. After a week, he returned to Guam but airport authorities prevented him from entering.

He said Guam Immigration deported him to Chuuk where he had to plead with the Federated State of Micronesia president and the U.S. Embassy in Pohnpei to help him return to Guam.

“I met with the president and I had an appointment with the U.S. Embassy. They told me Guam has no grounds to deny me entry. They said that they, too, don’t understand why I’m treated this way,” said Usar.

He said he stayed in Chuuk for two months. About August 2003, he flew to Guam and was admitted.

He said that Guam Immigration had raised his previous case—delivery and shipment of firearm (a hand gun) to Chuuk back in 1994—as grounds to deny him entry.

Usar said that he had served his sentence fully: two years suspension from gun use, 100 hours community work, and a $100 fine.

Usar worked as a licensed gun user, being a security guard on Guam from 1994 to 1997.

“It happened a long time ago and they’re still accusing me of that incident. Can they do that? Can they charge me twice for the same offense and for a case that’s not there anymore?” asked Usar.

He claimed that Guam Immigration treated him “like a criminal.” He said he was handcuffed, fingerprinted, and detained for one day at Guam’s Corrections.

Usar said that it has been an “extremely difficult life” since he was deported to Saipan last year. “I didn’t know anybody here. I had no friends here. I couldn’t control myself from crying,” he said.

He said that he asked a favor from a resident to give him a ride to Beach Road in San Jose, the only place he was most familiar back then. “I stayed on the beach. The beach was my house,” he said.

As days, weeks, and months passed without any positive news about him going back to Guam, he said he had become a castaway. He was lucky if he could get fresh food from beach goers. At times, he would fill his stomach with any food left by tourists or picnic goers.

“I had no money. I had no clothes. What I did was swim in the sea and hang my clothes to dry,” he said.

His fate changed when he met a man who was curious enough to ask about him. “I told him my story and he invited me to his place. He’s very generous to help me,” he said, adding that his friend also helped him find a temporary job.

Right now, he said, he works as security guard, earning $3.50 an hour.

“I am renting a place now for $350 a month. Whatever is left, I send to my kids on Guam,” he said.

He said his wife who works on Guam also visits him once a month. “It’s very difficult for us. It’s costly and it’s painful. I want to go back to Guam,” he said.

Usar has two children on Guam.

Yesterday, he was at the Governor’s Office to meet with Gov. Juan N. Babauta and ask for his help, so he could return to Guam.