A different political status for the NMI

The obvious leadership changes in the U.S. House and Senate and the aggressive attitude to change or federalize the CNMI’s minimum wage, immigration and labor and unilaterally grant residency status to qualified immigrant workers is not what the Covenant and what self-government is about. This unilateral proposal would be detrimental to the livelihood of the people and the ailing economy.

The negotiated Covenant did not grant the United States absolute powers over the Northern Mariana Islands. The people of the Northern Marianas gave themselves the right when they approved the Covenant. This agreement was entered into between two separate but equal sovereign entities (U.S. and NMI) and is a bilateral agreement between the U.S. and the people of the NMI. Neither party can unilaterally amend the Covenant’s fundamental provisions without the consent of the other.

The fallacious attempt by Rep. George Miller of California to dictate immigration and labor and minimum wage issues is a deliberate attempt to kill our legitimate garment industry on Saipan due to pressure from big union representatives in his state, which happens to be one of the top “sweatshop states” along with New York, Dallas, Miami, and Atlanta, which were all identified as such by the U.S. Department of Labor. Coincidentally, California ranks as one of the states with the highest number of illegal immigrants at over 2 million.

A typical California sweatshop will have overcrowded situations, 30-minute lunches, dirty bathrooms, no sanitary place to eat, rats, cockroaches, and even insects in the factories. They also are exposed to extreme hazards in the workplace such as unsafe machines without protection, chords dangling about, locked fire exits. Work hours are usually 10-12 hours and some instances have workers going without sleep to complete large orders. Seventy-five percent of the workers are Latino, mostly from Mexico, but also a large portion of Asian workers to include Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese. Ninety percent of all sweatshop workers in the U.S. are women. Most of these sweatshop individuals and farm workers earn an average of $3 an hour or less and this does not include the illegal immigrants who work in the farms, construction, plants, etc., all earning the same salary and living in less than sub-standard conditions.

A research study conducted found that 67 percent of registered garment factories in Los Angeles violate the minimum wage and overtime laws and over 75 percent violate health and safety laws. These figures are conservative since they do not since include garment factories that are not registered.

One tends to wonder why the U.S. Department of Labor or OSHA hasn’t taken action in California which has over 50 percent of sweatshops in operation. The answer was that they do not have enough personnel to inspect every labor violations. The only enforcement that the Department of Labor requires is an internal monitoring policy, as opposed to an external monitoring policy where site inspections and evaluations would be unannounced and conducted by impartial parties.

My question is, if there is not enough personnel to inspect in California, then why was there ample inspectors for Saipan and how did all these smear campaign come to light? Things that make you go hmmmm…Department of Labor requiring internal monitoring in the U.S. as opposed to an external monitoring policy…hmmmm…

The bottom line is that Miller and incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi are staunch supporters of sweatshops in California and capitalize on cheap labor. Miller was rated 0 percent by the Federation for American Immigration Reform. FAIR is a non-profit, public interest membership organization with over 700,000 members that want to improve border security, stop illegal immigration, and promote immigration levels consistent with national interest.

Pelosi’s harsh criticism of the CNMI being a disgrace is a sentiment of what “White America” is all about. A fundraising committee run by Pelosi was slapped with a $21,000 fine by the Federal Election Commission for enabling her to funnel more than $100,000 in illegal contributions in 2002 (CNN.com).

Pelosi has always been a staunch supporter of illegal immigration like Miller. Illegal immigration is what California sweatshops and vineyards thrive on. According to the Americans for Legal Immigration, Pelosi called illegal aliens her “constituents.” In addition, according to The American Thinker, in 2003, she accused immigration officers of conducting “terrorizing raids” on Wal-Mart Stores that led to the arrest of more than 300 illegal aliens.

In addition to Pelosi’s harsh criticism of the NMI, it should be noted that Pelosi has “non-union” vineyards that employs illegal immigrants. During harvest time, illegal immigrants are brought in to pick the grapes. They are then sold to the “non-union” wineries. Her personal wealth, together with her husband, is approximately $55 million. Her “non-union” vineyard is estimated at $5 million to $25 million. Furthermore, according to the Americans for Legal Immigration, Pelosi also benefits from the thousands of accounts being opened by illegal immigrants using Matricula Consular Cards (phony Mexican ID card/passport) as valid identifications to open an account, which is a violation of federal law.

One tends to wonder why the NMI was being the subject of controversy when the facts that I have just presented are even more appalling. The CNMI is between a rock and a hard place since we are the only insular area/territory with no voting delegate.

Under 8 U.S.C. 1325, it states that it is illegal and a criminal offense to enter the United States without inspection. Providing public service to such an alien, “knowing and in reckless disregard” of the alien’s illegal status, amounts to aiding and abetting and is a criminal violation in itself. Section 401 of the Illegal Immigration and Immigration Responsibility Act of 1996 prohibits non-qualified (illegal) aliens from receiving “federal benefits.”

Section 274 of the Immigration and Nationality Act states that criminal penalties are provided for Pelosi’s acts which clearly “encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is and will be in violation of the law.”

In my opinion, Pelosi violated very important laws such as illegal campaign contribution, various immigration laws as well as jeopardizing the national security of Americans that she took an oath to uphold and protect.

Miller, too, is guilty of knowing about the numerous illegal aliens and failing to report it to appropriate authorities. I find it very difficult to believe that, as a constituent in the same state as Pelosi, he is not aware of the Napa Valley vineyard or the fact that she uses illegal immigrant non-union workers and non-union businesses to transact her business.

It is apparent that the U.S. Congress in on a political witch-hunt. The CNMI relies heavily on the garment industry and its closure would have a devastating effect on our local economy and livelihood in the Northern Mariana Island since the second revenue generating industry being tourism has suffered dramatically due to major airlines pulling out because of the weakening economy.

Let us be mindful that in American Samoa the minimum wage of garment factory personnel starts at $2.68 and they are also afforded the opportunity to use the “Made in the USA” label. In addition, American Samoa was also penalized for having sweatshop-like conditions and ultimately fined $3.5 million for 270 employees. Has the United States aggressively pursued sanctioning American Samoa? No. The main reason is because they were largely responsible for the establishment of ways to enhance their economy especially with the cannery of fish.

I would like to ask our locals to re-think about our future political affiliation with the United States and express their concern with our Washington Representative. Re-think and evaluate if you feel it is right for the United States to decide when and which contract worker can become qualified for residency status. Congress has shown little to no interest in the improvements that had been undertaken by each administration to curb labor abuses and improve the quality of life in the NMI.

They have not given anything positive on ways to stimulate the economy but rather criticize and berate indigenous residents and threaten to take away certain inalienable rights of self-government that were guaranteed under the Covenant, despite the fact that the Covenant expressed and recognized the United States and the NMI as two separate but “equal” sovereign entities.

How are we equal when we are the only insular area that has no voting delegate to the U.S. Congress? I would like our elected officials to study the Covenant agreement and express to Congress that we are displeased with the discriminatory acts and double standards that are being imposed upon the NMI.

I hope that our elected leaders take suit against the United States to clarify the issues of federalizing local labor and immigration, increasing the minimum wage and the granting of residency status to immigrant workers who qualify under the federal guidelines when these proposals are unilaterally favoring the United States and not in the best interest of the people of the NMI.

Lastly, in the event that no compromise can be made between these “special interest” congressman and congresswoman, then maybe it’s time to exercise our right under the Covenant to renegotiate our political status and have a plebiscite to become independent like the Republic of Belau. This will eliminate the “White America” bureaucracy and the hypocrisy they live in and give us more flexibility to attract more investors due to our absolute control over labor, immigration and the minimum wage.

Peter Schweizer notes it best in his best-selling expose of liberal hypocrisy “Do As I Say, (Not As I Do)!” This, in my opinion, is what “White America” bureaucracy is all about. If we fail to follow we may see a military force of 20,000 Marines storm our island and exile local islanders to work as slaves in the farms of California or Pelosi’s vineyard, alongside all the other illegal immigrants.

I urge all NMI residents to boycott all wine being produced by Pelosi’s vineyard.

Danny Aquino Jr.
Susupe, Saipan