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‘I’ve walked in your shoes’
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Posted on Sep 16 2004
Ms. Shirlynn Perez claims that she and others are trying to correct the lack of clarity in Covenant Article III. My job requires that I refer to Covenant Article III on a daily basis, sometimes dozens of times a day. The Article, and its subsections, is crystal clear. The over 80 renounces became U.S. citizens, just as we did, on Nov. 4, 1986, based on Article III. So do not try to confuse the issue.
The lack of clarity here is the applicability of Covenant Article 501(a) as written by Judge Noonan—the application of the 14th Amendment in the Northern Mariana Islands at a period before the termination of the UN Trusteeship. Yes, people thought that the Trusteeship would end on Jan. 8, 1978. It did not. That is the 11-year difference that has caught many people, you and your co-plaintiffs and many others who are both NMI descents and were actually born here, in your predicament. But, for the 11 years that we had to wait, we never claimed we were stateless. You and your friends do, voluntarily.
My heart goes out to many of those like yourself because you have no other place to call home. You were born and raised here and, yes, you rightfully should call the CNMI home. But not over Judge Noonan’s flawed decision. You should get your citizenship through the private bill that is proposed for introduction in the U.S. Congress.
And, yes, I have walked in your shoes. I did so even while I was serving my country as the youngest member ever of the Legislature (so far), as the first person from the CNMI to be employed by a U.S. senator and as a member of the U.S. Armed Forces. I was not entitled to many rights others had, simply because Covenant Article III was not then effective and I was yet to become a U.S. citizen. But I never cried foul, I waited and persisted. You should, as you seem to be doing, also wait and persist.
Gregorio C. Sablan
Garapan, Saipan
