The strangulation of Saipan

Editor’s Note: The following is a continuation of a letter that was first published last Friday, Jan. 19. It is being published in two parts to accommodate its length.

Second part of a series

It has been reported that the U.S. is facing a nightmare of stateside problems of rising crime rates and overall mayhem and, unfortunately, it’s partly created by a disconcerting percentage of illegal Dreamers in the U.S., who are protected by the sanctuary areas. You can compare this to the very low amount of crime committed by the CNMI CW workforce. Shouldn’t DHS/USCIS focus more on the mainland illegal immigration problems before drinking an island mai tai and squashing our CW program?

Here on Saipan I have friends who have worked here for 20-30 years, and they have regularly paid living expenses, taxes and fees, and have been fine community members. But, sadly, due to an excessively slow and selectively harsh USCIS system, many times these decent and hardworking CWs are not allowed to work and eventually end up packing their stuff and catching the next flight home.

C’mon, what’s the matter with DHS/USCIS and its big boss, Mr. Trump? Remember when Trump promised the CNMI to help solve this adverse labor situation, but then he turned around and became silent as the CNMI scrambles to fix the problem. It reminds me of the old John Wayne movies where Wayne tries to convince some pissed-off Apache chiefs that the Great White Father and its Indian Affairs representatives in Washington will someday stop breaking promises to the struggling Indian people. Eventually, the Apache and other Indian chiefs did something about it and they now have lavish money-making casino/hotels on their tax-protected reservations. Meanwhile, our Imperial Pacific Resort hotel idly sits in Garapan as a gigantic iron skeleton that is probably rusting in the gentle tropical breezes due to the lack of skilled construction workers.

The questionable questions are:

1. Do you think the U.S. government is sadly dysfunctional in trying to “Make America Great Again,” with Trump and a vastly shrinking number of Americans not on the same page as him?

2. Is the U.S. involved in an ongoing conspiracy to jealously stick it to the aggressive and growing Chinese economy on Saipan by thwarting their showpiece hotel casino; and

3. Is DHS actually a coward when dealing with the more dangerous illegals in the U.S. mainland and feels sanctimoniously empowered when dealing with the more passive Filipinos and Chinese in the CNMI?

Seriously, the real burning question is: Why aren’t our CNMI leaders pissed off enough to really do something besides the usual letter writing, political hand-wringing exercises, and waiting for the feds to invite them to fruitless meetings?

In conclusion, I ask that the humongous Department of Homeland Security and USCIS to stop the strangulation of Saipan and let the CNMI survive and prosper. Maybe the feds should take the Dalai Lama’s advice when he said: “Our prime purpose in this life is to help others, and if you can’t help others, at least don’t hurt them.” Finally, I also ask that DHS spend more time in the U.S. mainland and go catch some illegal wall climbers, if you can.

Dr. Jack Angello
via email
Saipan U.S. resident (until the feds read this and maybe deport me, too)