The Compact Impact Fairness Act is now the law of the land. It is unclear what effects this legislation will have in the long run. It offers migrants from the three freely associated states access to benefits and programs available to permanent residents of the United States. Permanent residents are normally on a track to U.S. citizenship.
Collectively referred to as COFA migrants, our Micronesian friends are not required to be permanent residents to stay in the United States. They are authorized to come and go with their own passports functioning as unlimited visas. Under the new law, they are not even required to wait five years to qualify for federal benefits. They are automatically eligible to receive benefits. Not many seek U.S. citizenship, although their children born in U.S. jurisdictions have the right to claim it. Up to this point, they have sometimes been referred to as “habitual residents.”
Habitual residency indicates that they may work and live in the United States and are not deportable unless they break the law. This is where they are treated the same as permanent residents who are also subject to deportation for criminal activity. The list of deportable crimes is not that clear, although those involving violence, sexual predation and “moral turpitude” always seem to top the list. It is also not clear how vociferously this is pursued in various jurisdictions.
I understand that deportations of Marshallese from communities in Arkansas are on the increase. They are sometimes returned to the Marshalls with limited social and community support in the homeland. Many have been in the United States for extended periods along with their immediate family. They are returning to a society in which the number of close relatives is minimal, while their immediate family is back in the U.S.
On Guam, Attorney General Doug Moylan eagerly pursues these deportations. He is advertising the fact that his office engages in this with pictures of criminals on billboards with the label “Deport Air.” It features mugshots, presumably all or almost all from the surrounding Micronesian region. There are flames and an airplane. This is supposed to discourage bad behavior, particularly those associated with sex violence and predation. Perhaps it doesn’t.
Grace Huang, director of Policy for the Asian Pacific American Institute on Gender-Based Violence, is on Guam working with community groups. She emphatically told me that such signage actually discourages people from reporting these crimes. If getting people to report crime is your objective, these signs have the opposite effect.
Deport Air signs could also be juxtaposed against the recent Republican convention in Milwaukee, which featured “Mass Deportation Now” placards. It is incredible to see a political party standing up not for border security, but for the deportation of over 11 million people.
Intuitively, most of us know that there won't be a mass deportation in the U.S.. We also know that the Department of Corrections in Mangilao will not be emptied out with fellow Micronesians going home. It is not the proposed action itself that is disturbing, because we know it isn’t going to happen.
The most disturbing behavior is the emotional joy expressed by those who endorse Deport Air and hold up those Mass Deportation Now signs. They are gleeful and ecstatic.
The danger to society here and in the United States is the ugliness that accompanies these sentiments. People are now empowered to be dismissive of others who are not “real” Americans. It gives permission to say hateful things and engage in social media warfare. It creates division and justifies hatred.
For those holding these signs and expressing these sentiments, there are no clear distinctions between habitual residents, permanent residents, illegal immigrants and those they think just don’t belong in the United States. For those who dislike others, they are all the same.
When a Micronesian receives a hostile look somewhere or is treated like a “foreigner” subject to deportation, it cannot be easily explained away. Are they going to quote the COFA agreements for the benefit of those who just don’t want to see different people hanging around? Are they going to pull out their passport and their I-94? Of course, people are ignorant and should be educated. But neither the Guam Attorney General nor the attendees at the Republican Convention seem to be interested in human relationships or in explaining the nuances of the law.
In the meantime, the expansion of opportunities for benefits such as full Medicaid coverage, SNAP (food stamps), SSI and even in-state tuition in higher education awaits the habitual residents of America. Some see this as great progress. It is until you remember that U.S. citizens in the territories do not enjoy the same benefits.
So as not to advertise the different treatments, the new law carves out the implementation of these benefits in the territories. In this way, U.S. citizens on Guam will not be unhappy that COFA migrants are receiving SSI benefits. Of course, they would in the 50 states. In that case, we all could get a plane ticket to get the benefits. In the meantime, there is no more “compact impact aid” for Guam. I guess it is no longer necessary.
There is much to unpack in these nuanced relationships and erratic federal policies. It is easier to start stigmatizing people and blaming others for this. I don’t know what to write on the placard for Guam. Please start treating us like “habitual residents” or “habitual residency now” doesn’t quite do it. I don’t resent the beneficiaries, but I certainly question the people who decided on this plan without considering the permanent residents of the territories.
There is an additional significant consideration. Federal regulations will be needed to implement this legislation. The federal agencies are currently preoccupied with a lot of issues right now, and I don’t know how quickly they will write these “regs.” Maybe it is a simple matter of writing a memorandum.
On the other hand, if the people holding the “Mass Deportation Now” signs get to oversee the federal agencies, I doubt they will be highly motivated to see them implemented quickly. After November, they might be busy doing other things.
A second Trump administration would be busy issuing new executive orders and regulations regarding deportation. Deporting people, or at least talking about it, will be more fun than giving them benefits. The thousands of political asylees, the millions of adults raised in America since childhood, the roofers, the maintenance personnel, the housekeepers at hotels, the farm workers and the construction crews will all be under increased scrutiny. They are allegedly taking the jobs away from Americans. The only problem is that there is no evidence to support that claim.
Elections have consequences, even if you can’t participate in them. In this regard, U.S. citizens in the territories and “habitual residents” have one thing in common: they can’t vote for the president.
Dr. Robert Underwood is the former president of the University of Guam and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Send feedback to anacletus2010@gmail.com.
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