Protecting our own

What evidence can the United States provide to show that the safety measures adopted by the CNMI to protect its citizens against the possible threats from China and Russia are inadequate? What threats exist? Are the threats bigger than the economic devastation that the CNMI will most assuredly experience? Do the threats merit expending millions of dollars to implement extra security measures? And is the United States ready to deal with the social-economic impact that the implementation of federal immigration laws will bring?

The following are excerpts from China Daily: “The latest statistics from National Tourism Administration of China said that about 46 million mainland tourists traveled overseas last year, up 12 percent from 2007 figures. The administration also predicted that outbound travel would grow by 9 percent to 50 million tourists this year, despite the global recession.

“Though financial woes have left Wall Street gloomy, it has not hindered Chinese tourists’ enthusiasm to see the Wall Street Bull, the New York City’s symbolic statue of financial optimism and prosperity. During the Spring Festival holiday, starting from January 25, the Big Apple is expected to be a travel hub and shopping paradise for Chinese tourists, due to the economic slowdown and yuan appreciation which have lead to falls in hotel and flight prices, discounted tour package and luxury shopping deals in the United States. The U.S. is not the only hot destination for Chinese travelers. Other overseas markets, such as Europe, Australia and Japan are also benefiting.”

If the United States can allow the Chinese into New York, what is the big issue in allowing them into the CNMI? When the tourist industry took off way back when, we saw the initial stage of labor practice complaints from the U.S., when the garment industry succeeded the decline of tourist industry, we heard louder complaints from the continent. When the North American Free Trade agreement did not stifle the garment production in the CNMI, we saw little people, hoping to make big names for themselves, marching to Washington D.C. for bigger exposure! When neither of these worked, WTO came into the picture succeeding to kill the garment industry in the CNMI, but to the economic benefit of the U.S., since they can now buy cheaper and more products from China. Now we see the military coming back to Guam, bringing a large number of military personnel and their families. CNMI is eyed as maybe an extension of military playgrounds, turning soldiers into big, bad, fighting machines! With this comes the plan to implement federal immigration laws. This means that our labor pool will be reduced to practically nothing to support what is left of our tourist industry. And if other hotel and hospitality industry shut down due to lack of labor resource then that will mean the reduction of services available to tourists which, in turn, will make us a very unattractive destination, thereby killing our tourist industry.

Let us look at the staging here and arrive at an idea of what might happen next. Little Insignificant Chamorro Me thinks that: The next target is land alienation. The military might establish permanent posts on Tinian, Saipan, and Rota. Military personnel might bring their families. Their families might need jobs and some of them might even get out of the military and make the CNMI their permanent home. Economic development then might be encouraged since there might not be enough jobs for the good U.S. citizens to maintain their heaven on earth livelihood. And then they might fight for their inherent U.S. right to own property in a U.S. territory! That is all, folks. I wish all of you a good day. Continue on with your life as if nothing will happen that will greatly affect your life and your posterity. Otherwise, if you really do not wish to see our Covenant go down the drain and allow everyone else to make decisions for us, then feel free anytime to practice your U.S. constitution right to gather and demonstrate. Take back what you own and protect it with every fiber of your being! It is now time for us to take our cause to Washington D.C.