Territories not getting a fair deal

TAMUNING, Guam—Do U.S. territories enjoy the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution? And what exactly constitutes “fundamental rights?”

As far as constitutional scholars are concerned, this is a tricky issue created by legal complexities that subsequently result in unfair deals for insular jurisdictions such Guam and the CNMI.

Lawyer Leevin Camacho said the federal government uses vague standards in its application of the Constitution due to the language of court ruling and federal laws that have created “layers of ambiguities.”

U.S. territories don’t get to enjoy the same fundamental rights that applies to other states due to a lack of “uniformity clause,” Camacho said during a conference held yesterday by the U.S. District Court of Guam and the CNMI.

“The only benefits of U.S. citizenship that we enjoy is the right to travel,” he added.

Rodney Jacob, president of the Guam Bar Association, said a U.S. citizen “has to live in the U.S. mainland to be able to enjoy their rights as citizens.”

Jacob said the unfair treatment of U.S. citizens in insular territories can be gleaned from their lack of representation and their inability to participate in national elections and policy-making process.

University of Guam president Robert Underwood said “decades of experiences” have proven that citizenship doesn’t guarantee benefits for territorial citizens.

“This is an intersection between policy making, politics, and the law,” Underwood said, adding that no national candidate for any position runs on a platform that advocates the rights and welfare of insular territories.

“Nobody gets elected to Congress who are [identifiable] with issues related to the territories,” said Underwood, who served as Guam’s delegate to Congress for 10 years.

At the same time, he said, the national government doesn’t have an entity dedicated to colonial affairs.

Attorney June Mair noted that the benefits made available to Guam and the CNMI were much scarce compared to those afforded the states. She mentioned, for example, the low reimbursement rate for Medicaid offered to both jurisdictions, as well as the unavailability of funding for the earned income tax credit program, which other states receive from the federal government.

“EITC comes out of our own pockets; the people of Guam are shouldering a lot to fund the EITC,” Mair said.

Underwood, however, said territories are not completely beyond reproach for their fates.

“It goes back to the way to articulate our vision; and we have no clear vision because we treat every issue independent of others,” the UOG president said.