Willens: Ruling on stateless issue is wrong

“The Court of Appeals is wrong.”

This was stressed by Howard Willens, who was counsel for the Mariana Political Status Commission that represented the islands in the Covenant negotiation with the United States.

Speaking before local businessmen during a membership meeting of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce at the Dai Ichi Hotel yesterday, Willens said the so-called “stateless” persons in the Commonwealth are not U.S. citizens, based on the provisions of the Covenant.

Willens made the distinction between the Commonwealth and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, saying that U.S. citizenship for those born on the islands did not come into effect until the termination of the trusteeship in 1986.

“TTPI citizenship is different from CNMI [U.S.] citizenship,” he said.

Willens said the federal appellate court decision affirming the U.S. citizenship of the stateless persons—or those born in the Northern Marianas between Jan. 9, 1978 to Nov. 3, 1986, the intervening period between the adoption of the Covenant and its ratification—is a “misinterpretation of the Covenant.”

Willens explained that the stateless persons do not fall under any of the categories in the Covenant’s citizenship provisions, particularly on Article III, Section 301.

He pointed out that, based on a citizenship provision, U.S. citizens are “all persons born in the Northern Mariana Islands who are citizens of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands on the day preceding the effective date of this section, and who, on that date, are domiciled in the Northern Mariana Islands or in the United States or any territory or possession thereof.”

Willens said that, while the stateless children are born on the islands, they were not considered TTPI citizens.

He said, though, that his opinion is based from a legal standpoint. Willens refused to give a political opinion, although he said that such view could overweigh the legal one to benefit the stateless group, whom he wished good luck.

Meanwhile, Gov. Juan N. Babauta clarified that, although the appellate court has upheld the U.S. citizenship of stateless persons, there remains “a cloud of uncertainty regarding [their] status.”

“The federal government can appeal the Ninth Circuit’s decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. If the federal government does not appeal by Dec. 16, 2004, then the Ninth Circuit’s decision becomes final. I have requested U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to cease the federal litigation involving your citizenship; and I hope that he orders the Department of Justice to do so,” Babauta said, in a letter to the stateless persons.

“Until the Ninth Circuit decision is final, however, I think it is prudent before CNMI agencies offer you benefits based on your United States citizenship that the federal government formally acknowledge your citizenship by issuing you passports. After all, it is the U.S. government—not the CNMI government—that determines U.S. citizenship,” the governor added.

The governor maintained his call, though, for stateless persons to apply for U.S. passport.

“Once you have your passports, you will then easily obtain the same rights as all other U.S. citizens in the CNMI, such as the ability to secure scholarships and voting rights,” the governor said.

He assured his support for the stateless persons’ clamor for American citizenship, noting that he has also been exerting efforts to achieve this goal though the U.S. Congress.

At least 20 stateless individuals immediately filed their respective applications with the U.S. Passport Office on Saipan Tuesday, when news broke about the governor’s call for them to secure American passports.

The U.S. Passport Office, located at the second floor of the Afetnas Building in San Antonio, received a barrage of calls from stateless persons inquiring about the requirements that they need to submit along with the applications. A passport application entails an $85 fee.

Saipan’s passport officer Ann Doris Babauta said the Honolulu Passport Agency advised her office to accept the stateless persons’ applications. The passport officer clarified, though, that it is the Honolulu office—an agency under the U.S. State Department—that would decide on the applications.