{"id":230923,"date":"2016-06-28T06:06:40","date_gmt":"2016-06-27T20:06:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=230923"},"modified":"2016-06-28T06:06:40","modified_gmt":"2016-06-27T20:06:40","slug":"voices-mami-ikeda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/voices-mami-ikeda\/","title":{"rendered":"VOICES: Mami Ikeda"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mami<\/a>
Mami Ikeda, 49, will have to leave the CNMI in September due to the contract workers cap. Her family has lived in the islands for nearly 40 years. (Thomas Manglona II)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Editor\u2019s note: In Saipan Tribune\u2019s latest weekly series, \u201cVoices\u201d shares the stories of those in the CW community and sheds light on those directly affected by the humanitarian crisis in the CNMI. <\/em><\/p>\n

Mami Ikeda\u2019s family has lived here for nearly 40 years. She and her mother, father, and brother made Saipan their home in the 1970s. Although Ikeda moved back to Japan after her mother fell ill, her brother, Kazunori, and father stayed to live and work in the islands. They were laid to rest at the Tanapag Cemetery. <\/p>\n

Ikea, 49, is the only one in her family left on Saipan. She spends her days processing documents for individuals and corporations\u2014a job she\u2019s had for nine years since returning to the island. She told Saipan Tribune that she even processes papers for contract workers whose papers were renewed. <\/p>\n

The past few weeks have been hard on her job. While she passes along other people\u2019s documents for renewal, Ikeda will have to leave in September. Like many others who did not reach the threshold to continue working in the CNMI, she says she will have to leave everything she has behind. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is where I grew up,\u201d she said. \u201cNobody is going to look after my bother and father\u2019s grave. I really don\u2019t want to leave them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ikeda sympathized with families in similar or even worse situations. \u201cToo many families are being separated because they have children who were born here. This is their kids’ only home.\u201d She added, \u201cIt\u2019s so hard for them to bring them over if they are affected and need to leave because it costs so much. The majority of people who are affected happens to be those who have been here for 10, 20, or 30 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

When they reach their date of expiration, contract workers must leave within 10 days. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat can you do in 10 days after living here for decades?\u201d she asked. \u201cPeople are devastated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ikeda joins the wide call for improved status for those who have lived in the islands for many years. She said that is would give a number of people \u201cpeace of mind\u201d because they have family here, who call Saipan their home too.<\/p>\n

While Ikeda dreadfully waits for September to come, she expressed hope for an immediate solution. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs you know, businesses are being affected by that and they are closing already. This is not just a contract worker problem, it\u2019s the whole CNMI the whole business industry,\u201d she explained. \u201cI would like the federal officials to hopefully understand the situation when they came over for the meeting. I am hoping they do something about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ikeda was able to share her story and concerns in a recent meeting with local officials and representative from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. During her address, she noted that when people, such as contract workers, are so essential to the community and its development \u201cthen officials should consider that they need to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s no meaningful action taken, Ikeda will have to leave, following in the path of countless other workers who have already departed the island. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have funds to go home. When I came back in 2009, I left Japan for good. I did not leave anything there,\u201d she said. \u201cI did not leave a thing there\u2026If I had to leave I would have no place to go back to in Japan. It is going to cost me a lot. I could maybe come back as a new hire, but I don\u2019t know how long that is going to take.\u201d<\/p>\n

If that day comes, Ikeda said that she knows so many people support her and others. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve made so much friends since 2009 than I did in Japan. People here are already my family. I am blessed with so many people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ikeda has maintained an active voice in the developing situation. She started a Facebook page and website called \u201cFaces of CWs\u201d to connect workers and express the concerns of those affected. Visit www.facesofcws.com to view the group\u2019s activities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: In Saipan Tribune\u2019s latest weekly series, \u201cVoices\u201d shares the stories of those in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":230924,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[900],"tags":[26,170,67,8810],"class_list":["post-230923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-cnmi","tag-japan","tag-people","tag-tanapag-cemetery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}