Enrollment of ‘stateless’ kids in peril with scholarships on hold

By Cassie Dlg Fejeran
Special to the Saipan Tribune

The Educational Assistance Program checks for stateless students enrolled at the Northern Marianas College remain on hold at the CNMI Scholarship Office and the affected students are saying they are being given the run around whenever they try to seek concrete answers from authorities.

Shirlynn Perez said she has been contacting the Scholarship Office and the Attorney General’s Office but both claim to have no definitive answers on the issue. Perez is seeking assistance to meet her financial obligations to the college. She is enrolled for the Fall 2004 semester.

Perez has already addressed a letter to House Speaker Benigno R. Fitial, Rep. Clyde Norita, and the governor’s legal counsel, Steve Newman, about her concerns over the decision made by the AGO to have the scholarship checks put on hold.

“I acted quickly and called…the administrator of the Scholarship Office, then Roman Benavente, the chairman of the Scholarship Board, but I was unable to get any straight answers from them. I was then told to call the AG’s office. All they have been doing is making me go through their chain of command and they are not giving me any straight answers,” she said.

Worried and upset, Perez continues to seek assistance for herself and several other stateless individuals who have received an award letter from the Scholarship Office.

“We have pending credit in the bookstore at NMC and have yet to pay our tuition. I am very worried that the scholarship checks may not come out on time for us and we may not be able to pay our debt to the college, which will prevent us from registering for the coming semesters,” she added.

Randy Mendoza, a stateless individual and spokesperson for the group, is also one of the many applicants for the CNMI scholarship that enrolled for the Fall 2004 semester after receiving an award letter of eligibility for the EAP scholarship.

The Scholarship Office had accepted the applications of some 20 students shortly after Ninth Circuit judge John T. Noonan declared them U.S. citizens under the U.S. Constitution. The Department of Justice has, however, sought a re-hearing of the case.

Former congressman Stanley Torres said, though, that the attorney general’s initial decision to okay the release the checks was made despite the appeal filed by the Justice Department. It was only later that the AGO instructed the Scholarship Office to withhold the checks.

“They [AGO] are reckless,” he said. “They should have waited until the time is right to announce their [stateless individuals’] eligibility. Now they’re flip-flopping [on] their decision and it’s now causing trouble. The government attorney should be more knowledgeable and competent. They should not make life more difficult especially for these stateless people.”

In a meeting with the AGO and the Scholarship board last month, Torres said, the decision to release the award letters to stateless scholarship applicants was confirmed and agreed by the government attorney present in the meeting.

“I’m kind of embarrassed on the work done by the government attorney. I was in the meeting last month when they were discussing the eligibility for the stateless. The attorney said yes, they [stateless] can receive the scholarship,” he said. “What they should have done is said yes, but we should wait till it’s contested,” he added.

Individuals who claim to be “stateless ” are those who were born and raised in the Commonwealth between Jan. 1, 1974, and Nov. 4, 1986, whose parents are not U.S. citizens.