glass houses

To start, there is never, ever any excuse for throwing rocks at vehicles. It's criminal and it could be deadly.

With that out of the way, it would probably happen less if the rockthrowers-- and the people in the community who must have seen them in action-- thought they were getting something out of tourism.

I expect to get some statistics in response. They will probably be correct and I have no doubt of tourism's benefits. They just don't 'trickle down' directly to enough households.

Bumper cars

I fear those little white tour vans. The drivers are aggressive, unpredictable, oblivious of the law and dangerous. It's not my personality, but I've had to stop myself from chasing several of them around the island so I could.... do something (I have no idea what that would be).

Maybe they're not accountable either. There was a recent traffic case where the tour company tried to avoid liability by saying the driver was an 'independent contractor'. Isn't that more like, a taxi driver?

So yes, the tour companies have to clean up their act: a lot and quickly. Parents have to get control of their kids (or adults their inner kids). Most of all, neighborhoods are only safe if the residents are in control. Is anybody watching?

You might say I forgot to mention the police. No, I didn't.

Visa waivers approved, temporarily

The Pacific Daily News is reporting that a CNMI-only visa waiver for Chinese and Russian tourists will be approved after Nov. 28 "on a case-by-case basis".*

It might only be a breather, because the "parole" will only be available "During the period from Nov. 28, 2009 (the transition program effective date), until the date of publication of the final Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver Program (VWP) rule (or other date that the Secretary of Homeland Security may determine)."

Still, it's good news in the short term, and maybe we can separate the coming of federal immigration control from the coming election.

That's a pretty vain hope. Several politicians have said they are going to raise issues with Customs and Border Patrol officials who are here for an operational visit. Operational is the key word here; they're not policy makers. Here's the list printed by the Saipan Tribune:

The visiting federal officials are led by CBP Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Field Operations Thomas S. Winkowski, and CBP Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Information Technology Charles Armstrong.

Also visiting are David Morrell, executive director of the Office of Field Operations' Mission Support; Cheryl Peters, program manager of the Office of Field Operations; Richard Vigna, director of Field Operations in San Francisco; Bruce Murley, area port director in Honolulu, Hawaii; and Rocky Miner, port director in Guam.

Later in the day...
Pacific News Center has a short blurb, indifferently written, on the officials' visit to Guam:

The speaker (Judi Wonpat) says that the federalization of CNMI's immigration will require them to use some of Guam's US customs agents however it will be on a part time basis and shouldn't affect any of Guam's operations.

The speaker adds that they did not have an answer as to the viability of extending the visa-waiver program to China and Russia. They did however reassure the Speaker that they would be on track to implament the CNMI's federalization on Nov. 28th.

More...
PNC has also reprinted a Press Release (indifferently written) from Guam Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo's office saying that the hearing on H.R. 3770 has been posponed until a later date. That bill proposes a one-year delay in implementing the Guam-CNMI visa waiver.

And...
Last, but certainly not least, PNC has the (decently written) reaction from Congressman Gregorio C. Sablan:

"I’ve been assured that all the necessary equipment to do the pre-screening and monitor visitor exits will be in place by November 28,” said Kilili. “I have been very concerned about the Department’s operational readiness, but I’m beginning to see some forward motion."

* I'm glad I stopped by Unheard No More this morning. I missed the PDN headline when I picked up the local papers this morning. The Department of Interior's announcement doesn't appear on their website yet; I'll try to link to it soon, particularly when PDN's pay-per-view time limit kicks in.

Say it ain't so, Joe

Yesterday I wrote that Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio was the 'poster boy' for efforts to have Immigration and Customs Enforcement take away some of the authority it has given to local law enforcement.

Evidently, America's toughest sheriff agreed on a local radio show (Feathered Bastard), where he was criticizing a new agreement that only allows his deputies to screen people who are already in jail on other charges. (I've got to find a new cliche'.)

I started down this path because, like other national immigration issues, the so-called 287(g) agreements are likely to become CNMI news Nov. 28, if not sooner.

The sentence this is taken from could use another rewrite, but evidently the previous agreements allowed "federally trained and supervised state and local law enforcement officials to investigate, apprehend, transport, and detain people who are living and working in the country without authorization." (Huffington Post.

According to the Arizona Republic, "The jail-screening effort helped officials catch nearly 30,000 illegal immigrants since the program began in February 2007, but it was the street-level enforcement that caused the most controversy and produced less substantial results, capturing about 264 illegal-immigration suspects."

Unrepentant, as you can see from the links, Arpaio leaked news of the new agreement in violation of its terms.

Closer to home

Congressman Gregorio C. Sablan says that the Department of Homeland Security is circulating a proposal to require "one additional form" under the coming Guam/CNMI visa waiver program for tourists.

That's a positive, but we're very much the tail of the dog on this one. "Guam" is the operative word here with the Department of Defense asked for comment while it's moving more Marines in.

"Sablan could not say whether DHS intends to apply the same policy for Russian and Chinese tourists visiting Guam," according to the Saipan Tribune.

This *should* have been posted a day ago, but I had an unfortunate encounter with party food and spent the day sitting elsewhere

Waiving the flags?

The Department of Homeland Security hates tourists. That's the reality we face when we read (Gov. Benigno R.) Fitial to continue pressing for China, Russia visa waivers (Saipan Tribune)

The Christian Science Monitor tells us that Tourism rises globally, but not to U.S. The article notes that "In fact, the annual number of foreign visitors to the US is about 2 million lower than in 2000, leading travel-industry experts to figure that from 2000 to 2007, the US economy took a hit of about $150 billion." Security trumps tourism.

The article quotes Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer Electronics Association about the reasons there are far fewer foreign visitors to trade shows:

On a recent trip to China, Mr. Shapiro met the owner of a chain of 1,200 electronics stores who said he'd love to visit the Las Vegas show – but can't get a visa. While Shapiro may not know why that particular visa request was denied, he does know about the process a Chinese businessperson, tourist, or student has to go through to get a visa.

As he describes it, the applicant must first get to the US Embassy or a city with a US consulate, wait in what can be a long line, and pay a $100 application fee, giving a full accounting of all financial assets. The applicant must then return to the embassy or consulate for a two-minute interview that results in approval for a visa or rejection.

Foreign students face a similar problem. That's probably going to be the next local headline when the regulations are finalized.

There's certainly a connection to the Marines moving to Guam, with some spillover expected to the Northern Marianas. China and Russia are hardly hotbeds of terrorism, though some Chechens have been among the 'foreign fighters' in Iraq and Afghanistan. Military security, visa fraud and other criminal activity are more likely to be the "security concerns" cited in the proposed regulations.

As I so persuasively argued in Immigrate Expectations, the CNMI is likely to get lost in national immigration issues. From recent discussions on ILW.COM, it appears that Comprehensive Immigration Reform legislation is very likely early in the next U.S. Congress. Any exceptions for Guam and the CNMI would be seen as precedents and it's hard to see bureaucrats sticking their necks out in that political climate.

Maybe the Governor can bring it up if he meets President-elect Barack Obama while attending the inauguration.

Okay, my tongue is firmly in cheek on that one.

The ice-man cometh?

Conspiracy? Really? Is the Drug Enforcement Agency's intrusive search of Chinese passengers an effort "to discredit the CNMI government's claim of ability to monitor the entry of Chinese and Russian tourists"?

I thought the Administration's lawsuit shouldn't have any effect on federal agencies. Not so, Gov. Benigno R. Fitial now says:

"This is a conspiracy. We're in the middle of discussing and negotiating allowing Chinese and Russian tourists to come into the CNMI under a visa waiver [program], then all of a sudden this occurred."

Were the searches of all Chinese passengers over-the-top? I think so. In fact, in more than an hour of internet searching I couldn't find news about a similar mass pat-down. That hardly proves anything, but it's an indication.

Still, everyone on Saipan, Rota and Tinian knows crystal methamphetamine is a threat to the community. They also know China is the predominant source of 'ice'.

Was the DEA heavy-handed? Sure, but that's the way the agency operates. It's bound to hurt tourism to some extent with such operations. They should find some middle ground.

But that's hardly a conspiracy.

I just scooted over to the Marianas Variety The commenters don't seem to agree with the Governor.

Post it note

Just out of curiousity, I followed the link in a Google ad on my home page (I know, I know, that's a no-no) about TripAdvisor.com's Saipan Forum. What are potential tourists reading? thought I.

Here's one that I just had to flag. I'll copy the email reply so you get the idea.

Dear TripAdvisor Member,

Thanks so much for letting us know about your concerns regarding the Saipan forums, and for your helpful participation.

At TripAdvisor we do our best to allow a wide variety of members to voice their opinions, but at the same time keep the forums friendly and helpful to all. We appreciate your help in doing so.

At this time we're evaluating the situation and have already taken fair action to reduce the number of disruptive and inappropriate posts in the forum. We will remove posts that directly violate our forum guidelines or significantly disrupt a directly travel-related discussion. Please note that we have updated our guidelines, they may be viewed by following this link:http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html

Thanks again for sharing your concerns.

Best regards,
DanTripAdvisor Support Team

On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 08:25:39 -0500, sosaipan@yahoo.com wrote:

> User: Ken Phillips (sosaipan@yahoo.com)>
> Forum ID: 2885
> Topic ID: 1584975
> Topic Title: Need a good hotel for 3 weeks
> Poster Name: patron-silver
> Poster ID: 32ABDD2C07324150AD2E9FDB50F089A1
> Post ID: 9825529
> Post Body: Saipan has gone too the dogs.
> Water and electricity are intermittent.
> Tourism has ceased to exist.
> DONT swim in the lagoon, its polluted with raw sewerage.
>
>Link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60716-i2885-k1584975-l9825529-Saipan.html#9825529> >

Complaint:

It overstates the problems. While the local utility is indeed stretched too thin, intermittent is a great exagerration. There are infrequent partial outages because of inadequate backup. They are planned to have minimal impact on tourist areas.

Tourism is down, it has not ceased by any means.

The beaches are red-flagged more often than I, or anyone would like, but it is an overstatement to say they are polluted with raw sewage.

The post is a hit job, for some reason.>

Maybe I should have replied to the post instead of complaining, but that's like replying to someone who asks if you've stopped beating your wife. You start by being on the defensive and I'd rather just have it removed. And yes, I spun it as positively as I could without lying. This is what potential visitors are reading about the island, folks.

Come-ons from the whores on Seventh Avenue

Does it really take a visitor to say that prostitutes are still overrunning Saipan? It seems so. That D. Martinson letter in the Tuesday Saipan Tribune doesn't say anything new: (I'd link to it, but there's a glitch in their archive.)

First, I can't tell you how many times I was propositioned in Garapan by prostitutes--you call them masseuses--for sex. Why is this permitted? Can anyone give me a good reason? Am I to understand that elected officials, business owners, and police department can't do a thing about it? I find that hard to believe. Tip No. 1: If you want Japanese tourists to return, clean up Garapan of prostitutes. Every single last one must go.

It's obvious on Cpl Derence Jack Road, where I'm writing this now. A fine memorial indeed. I guess the politicians have more important things to worry about. By the way, has the Zoning Board gotten anyone to sponsor their adult zoning legislation yet?

I've always been ambivalent about prostitution: a 'victimless' crime and all of that la-di-da. In an ideal world, maybe. In reality, and particularly Saipan's reality, no. Exploitation, abuse and drug use are rampant. The government has consistently shown that it is institutionally incapable of controlling those abuses.

A few days after we moved I watched a Chinese man strolling down the street speaking on a cellphone. He kept stopping in various strategic locations, checking out the activity in front of the 'massage parlor' and other places. Naturally, I became curious, wondering if he was setting up a raid on a rival. No, he was evidently breaking in a new working girl. She came around the corner next to me and sauntered down the street getting constant instructions over her cellphone. Style points, I guess.

Now, I intentionally made it obvious that I was watching; I really don't think this activity is going to do much for our store. His response? He eventually entered the store, cellphone attached to his ear, and strolled up and down the aisles checking prices. Then he left without a word, cellphone still going. Maybe I'm too sensitive, but the message I received was that I was an interloper in an established territory.

Now, these Fujien gangs usually just extort, strong-arm and intimidate other Chinese, so I'm not worried about that. Maybe that's why they get away with running roughshod over the legitimate Chinese. I do think my idea about photographing the regular girls just to harass them into moving along would be ill-advised.

I mentioned the incident to a friend about a week later when the same man strolled by and was told he had been down in Chalan Kanoa recently. From all appearances, he was collecting protection money.

I picked the song lyric, of course, partly because of Corporal Jack and partly because another section of Seventh Avenue before it reaches Times Square is the garment district.

Thanks to the garment industry, Saipan now has a large Chinese community. It's not going to go away. Some of the businesses are very good; I deal regularly with half a dozen of them. But this government has never been able to control its small businesses. How many more beauty parlors, karaoke bars, poker parlors and auto repair shops are going to be touted as 'investment'? Gee, I almost forgot massage parlors.

When the Chinese horde first arrived, the usual sleaze you would expect piggybacked in. Take your pick, the government couldn't or wouldn't control it. About as much success as with the Yakuza earlier, I'd say. Given that track record, I'd suggest leaving the casino business to Tinian. They picked their poison.

A very bright man who recently sold his business just came back for a visit. We were talking about all of the new buildings going up while hundreds of old ones stand vacant and derelict. His concise summary: "Oh, you mean the Korean Green Cards?" Bingo. We'll probably need the space to house the Korean mafia.