By Gina Tabonares-Reilly and Mar-Vic Cagurangan
Any alien caught entering Guam illegally would face five years in prison plus a fine of $25,000 under a bill proposed by Sen. Dwayne San Nicolas.
Bill 340-37 was prompted by a spate of Chinese nationals trying to sneak into Guam using inflatable boats from the Northern Marianas.
Ike Peredo, director of the Guam Customs and Quarantine Agency, warned of the potential risks associated with the illegal entry of aliens, such as espionage, drug smuggling, human trafficking, reconnaissance, terrorism, disease and undocumented labor.
According to the Customs office, a total of 118 aliens trying to enter Guam through the backdoor have been captured since 2022. Most of them were intercepted at Ritidian Point on the northernmost tip of Guam.
“Regulations around illegal entry into our island are lax and there are no local regulations that are stringent enough to
address this critical issue that is steadily rising,” San Nicolas said.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security last year disclosed that some of the arrested Chinese nationals were long-term overstays from conditional parole, while others held expired work visas.
Sen. William Parkinson, a co-sponsor of Bill 340-37, said Guam needs to bar the entry of intruders who could be “potentially hostile foreign spies with malicious intent.”
The rampant intrusion of illegal aliens is raising concerns in the face of China's bid to expand its footprint in the Pacific region, where the U.S. military is also beefing up its presence.
“We need to protect our borders, protect our way of life, and not let this invasion happen on our island,” Parkinson said.
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“With many of the perpetrators having gone through the proper U.S. immigration process in the CNMI, our CQA officers do not have the legal authority to arrest these individuals when they arrive in Guam and can only charge them with failure to acquire clearance requirements and failure to
deliver a manifest to a customs officer, both of which are minor infractions
and are only considered as misdemeanors,” San Nicolas said.
Under the current law, those who enter the island illegally are only fined $2,000 or sentenced to one year in prison.
“In order to deter these unauthorized individuals from entering our island,
it is necessary to enact legislation bolstering the strength of our laws to prosecute those who enter our island illegally, making it illegal to enter Guam without going through the proper process and giving CQA officers the power to arrest those who illegally enter our island” San Nicolas said.
On June 23, the U.S. Coast Guard rescued 13 Chinese nationals aboard a vessel that ran out of gas and went adrift 13 nautical miles north of Guam. The rescue team was deployed following a 911 call from one of the boaters. They were later transported to Hagåtña.
No additional details were released, but law enforcers suspected they came from the Northern Marianas, where federal authorities are investigating the possible involvement of some locals.
During an undercover operation in September last year, the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations arrested 14 Chinese nationals in the CNMI after their foiled attempt to set sail to Guam. The Chinese nationals paid an undercover agent who posed as a boat captain to transport them to Guam illegally.
San Nicolas said his bill would "address the issue of Chinese nationals and other undocumented individuals arriving on the shores of Guam."
Peredo endorsed the bill, which he said would bolster local law enforcement's ability to adequately respond.
The bill, if enacted into law, would also cover merchandise, or baggage unloaded
from any vessel, aircraft, or contrivance arriving from outside of Guam without a permit or authorization and clearance from Customs authorities at any place other than a designated port of entry.
“As a small island community, it is critical that we track the individuals and products arriving on our shores to ensure they are safe and of honest intent, " Peredo said.
“Anyone who attempts, or finds success, circumventing our requirements for legal entry beyond our designated ports should be held accountable for their wrongdoing and be more inclined to hesitate should a re-attempt cross their mind," he added.
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