Mainlanders urge Bush to help NMI’s ‘stateless kids’

A 14-year-old girl has urged President Bush to use his powers to help CNMI individuals who were rendered stateless as a result of a presidential decree that left a gap for people born in the Commonwealth between Jan. 1, 1974 and Nov. 3, 1986.

Laura Alexander of Indiana, 14, told Bush in a letter that more than 300 CNMI individuals are in need of his support to obtain U.S. citizenship so they could further their education or join the U.S. military.

“The injustice of this procedural glitch affects these people in their daily lives. Because of their lack of U.S. citizenship they cannot travel, they cannot vote, they cannot seek higher education, they are not eligible for federal higher education scholarships and grants, they are not eligible to join the U.S. armed forces (according to recent studies about 25 percent of these individuals wish to do), they are not eligible for social benefits, they are not eligible to compete in the local workforce…in other words, they are not eligible for a future,” the student told the U.S. president.

She also noted that in a time of war, when the newspapers are ridden with stories of deaths and bombs, “maybe what the people need is a story of how the U.S. gave 350 people the right to share in the land of golden opportunity, about how the United States served justice and liberty, the two principles which our nation was founded upon.”

Alexander’s letter was one of the many letters that Gov. Juan N. Babauta has received in support of the CNMI’s stateless children, urging that expeditious help be rendered to grant citizenship to these individuals.

The letters, which flooded the Executive Branch’s website www. executive.gov.mp, came from different parts of the U.S. mainland posted by home-schooled students who participated in the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association.

Alexander said the CNMI stateless issue struck her to the heart. “When I read of the injustice that the United States policy had brought upon these 350 people, I knew something had to be done,” said Alexander.

She disclosed that along with a few fellow debaters, the group had started a grassroots campaign across the nation to try and gain support to help the CNMI stateless individuals in getting the U.S. citizenship they deserve.

“We have been writing our representatives, senators, and our local newspapers, in the hopes that someone will take an interest and help not only to spread the word, but make a difference. From reading the Saipan Tribune, I have heard over and over again that an act of Congress is the only way to get these stateless individuals citizenship, but I have become increasingly frustrated at times with the unwillingness of Congress to address this issue during an election year,” she added.

Alexander said that letters were also sent to Sen. Richard Lugar, Sen. Evan Bayh, Rep. Dan Burton, CNMI Resident Representative Pete Tenorio, president of the Organization of Stateless Americans Randy Mendoza, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, The Indianapolis Star, the Saipan Tribune, The New York Times, and Anne Ryder, anchorwoman of NBC News Indianapolis

This surge of interest among some in the U.S. mainland about the issue all started during a national debating tournament sponsored by the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association, during which one of the topics discussed was the issue of the “stateless children” in the CNMI.

As part of his research on the matter, debater Taylor Gage communicated with the Saipan Tribune to get more background material, during which he was also referred to Washington Rep. Pete A. Tenorio.

After the debate, which he incidentally won, Gage said the topic generated so much interest among the debaters and the association that different groups are now spearheading a campaign to solicit the assistance of their state legislators so that these “stateless individuals” would be granted U.S. citizenship.

Gage disclosed that the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association and several others in the U.S. mainland have been communicating with their legislators in the U.S. Congress, urging them to pass a bill to ensure that citizenship will be extended to these “stateless” individuals.

Gage said the group has already presented its own case to their legislators to get their support on the matter.

The organization has members all over the United States, including Virginia, Nebraska, California, Texas, New York, among others.

Last month, Gov. Juan N. Babauta signed into law House Bill 14-97, now Public Law 11-8, which granted Immediate Relative status to stateless individuals who have already reached 21 years old and were in danger of losing their IR status.

Section 2(a) of the bill amends the definition of “Immediate Relative” so that these children of alien workers born in the CNMI between Jan. 1, 1974 and Nov. 3, 1986 don’t lose their IR status after reaching the age of 21.