When rearing its ugly head, it's finally okay for me to say, “It's not really discrimination.” I’m talking about the deportation of Chuukese on Guam who are behind bars.
The first time I heard of the Office of the Attorney General’s Deport Air Program, I was aghast. Its foul stench was strong. Discrimination! It screamed at me. It’s a natural reaction when discrimination—or a perception of it—is skidded toward your people.
But one must understand what this is all about.
“Our intention is to free up cells at (the Department of Corrections) to make room for more criminals in order to protect our people. Once deported, they cannot reenter the U.S.,” said Douglas Moylan, Guam’s attorney general.
There were billboards along Guam's busy roads displaying images of convicted aliens whom the attorney general wanted to deport as part of the “Pack Your Bags” initiative.
"Our billboard communicates to family members of over 40 alien criminals to contact and to remind their relatives at the Department of Corrections that the AG's Office currently has a program to immediately deport these alien inmates," OAG said.
When I first framed this in my head, I thought it repulsive. But in light of the AG’s reasoning, I began to realize it wasn’t exactly a bad idea. It even invites positive expectations, creating an “outside the box” mentality.
Perhaps, it can give our people a chance to rethink and determine what's most important to them and their families.
In a tight-knit Chuukese community, “selling out” members of your family is typically frowned upon. There is still some anxiety, but members of the Micronesian community seem a lot more willing to relax their cultural stance and loosen the tight grip.
We live here now and we ought to be respectful, right? Being respectful is one of the tenets that we proudly adhere to.
Under Guam’s Deport Air Program, the feds will foot the bill for deportable detainees under Homeland Security Immigration & Customs Enforcement. In the case of non-ICE detainees, Moylan earlier said, the travel costs “may be paid by the defendant if he or she wants out. Otherwise, we will locate funds or seek funding from the legislature for that plane ticket."
Most of the foreign inmates are from the FSM, convicted of manslaughter, home invasion and sexual assault. Those who don’t accept the program will “remain in jail but will be deported upon their eventual release.”
Such is the aim of their program. Pretty straightforward.
David Schwartz, a psychologist and author of “The Magic of Thinking Big,” said that by letting our negative antenna down, we can make the impossible possible by putting up the positive one. “If we think we can, we can. If we think we can't, then we can't.”
Many find a silver lining to deportation. “Mom back home who has not seen his son for years will finally get to hug him.” “That's a free plane ticket to get him home.” “Forget about coming back to Guam, if it means getting me my freedom back.”
Fair, right? I know if I were behind bars, I'd take the deal.
Born and raised in Chuuk, Alex Rhowuniong is a freelance journalist and a long-time resident of Guam. Send feedback to justwrite.ar@gmail.com
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