Longtime resident sues over non-issuance of US passport

A man who was born in Chuuk and has been domiciled within the CNMI since 1964, filed yesterday a lawsuit in federal court against the U.S. Department of State for repeatedly refusing to issue him a U.S. passport.

Bernard Sikimour Phillip also sued the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Department of State Honolulu Passport Agency regional director Nancy K. Finn for deprivation of his constitutional rights.

Phillip, through counsel George L. Hasselback, asked the U.S. District Court for the NMI to issue a declaration that he is a citizen of the U.S. and entitled to all rights and privileges.

The plaintiff requested an injunction compelling defendants to immediately issue him a valid U.S. passport.

The plaintiff also demanded for general and special damages, including a full refund of all fees incurred in his numerous passport applications.

Hasselback stated in the complaint that his client was registered to vote in municipal elections within the CNMI prior to Jan. 1, 1975.

The lawyer said Phillip became a U.S, citizen on Nov. 4, 1986 upon the termination of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

Phillip has repeatedly applied for a U.S. passport in the years 1999, 2000, 2003, and 2005 so he could travel within the U.S. and its territories and possessions with the full protection and supports of the U.S. government.

Hasselback said that on July 29, 2005, defendants denied Phillip’s most recent request for a passport.

The defendants, he said, based this denial upon a lack of “additional domiciliary evidence,” and a lack of “secondary birth evidence.”

Finn in that letter determined that additional domiciliary evidence and early secondary birth evidence were not submitted.

But Hasselback argued that no such “additional domiciliary evidence” is warranted in Phillip’s application and no such “secondary birth evidence” exists.

Defendants are aware of these two facts, but continue to deny the issuance of Phillip’s passport, he asserted.

In an attempt to travel to the Territory of Guam, Phillip, through his attorneys, contacted the Guam Office of ICE to identify alternate means of proving his citizenship to airlines and ICE personnel.

Phillip’s counsel was informed that while a U.S. passport was the “preferred” identification for travel as between the CNMI and other states, territories and possession of the U.S., other alternate documentation could be utilized, Hasselback said.

“However, upon further inquiry, counsel for Phillip was informed that such alternate documentation would not be accepted for citizens naturalized under Sections 301(a) and (b) of the Covenant,” he said.

Therefore, the lawyer noted, while a citizen of the U.S. born within the U.S. could travel from the CNMI to Guam without a passport, citizens naturalized through other means (including Phillip) are prevented from doing so.

“This denial in effect ‘strands’ Phillip within the CNMI and denies him his constitutionally protected right to travel freely within the U.S. and to travel abroad with the full protection and support of the U.S. government enjoyed by other citizens of the U.S.,” Hasselback said.