Man in chain, shackles raises eyebrows at parade

Liberation Day parade spectators were treated to a different visual offering yesterday—an Asian man holding a placard that read “Justice” on one side and “Alien worker deserves improved status” on the other.

While Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) and others acknowledged freedom of expression or freedom of speech when they referred to the placard, it’s the depiction of a man in chains and shackles that raised their eyebrows.

A man wearing chains and shackles surprised many spectators and parade participants at the 69th Liberation Day parade. (Jayson Camacho)

Sablan said the depiction is “false” because no one is being forced to remain in the CNMI. He said the depiction would hurt rather than help the cause of long-term foreign workers for an improved immigration status.

“Every individual here has the right to free expression, that’s protection [provided for by] both the U.S. and NMI Constitutions. I think it’s an appropriate display of a statement that is false. No one in the Northern Mariana Islands—whether you are a United States citizen or a citizen of a third country—are in shackles here. No one here is being forced to remain here, so that was a wrong message,” Sablan told Saipan Tribune.

Sablan, who ensured that national immigration reform bills would have provisions giving an opportunity for qualified long-term legal aliens to apply for “green card” which is pathway to U.S. citizenship, said it’s “unfortunate” that someone would resort to a misleading and false depiction of nonresidents’ situations in the CNMI.

“Not the sign, but the fact that’s he in chain and lock. That doesn’t help. It hurts him rather that it helps him. Just untrue and it doesn’t help to advance the conversation on the matter. Unfortunately, he’s wrong,” the delegate added.

From the beginning of the parade, the man could already be seen brandishing the placard. He wasn’t believed to be part of any of the organizations that participated in the Liberation Day parade. However, at the performance of Falun Dafa, the man was again seen parading and stood in front of the main stage along Beach Road in front of Kristo Rai Church.

As for the word “justice” on the placard, Sablan asked, “Justice before the court? Justice for what? No one here is under any restraint to stay here. Everyone is free. They can get up and leave any time they want to.”

Meanwhile, the prospects of any comprehensive national immigration reform bill are “dim,” Sablan said, after U.S. House Speaker John Boehner told President Barack Obama that there will be no vote on immigration reform bill this election year. However, Obama has said he will use executive actions on immigration matters, which Sablan said could include the CNMI.

S. 744 and HR 15, two comprehensive immigration reform bills pending in Congress, have CNMI-specific provisions, specifically granting legal, long-term foreign residents in the CNMI a chance to apply for a “green card.”