“All i ask of you is to PLEASE side with us. protect our future. DON’T GIVE PERMANENT RESIDENCY TO ALL NON-RESIDENT PEOPLE! this ideas spells D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R!!!! and this is your statement to the US CONGRESS.that is another issue i have with you, by the way.i like you, BUT YOU ARE SCARING ME.” — Nicky, on www.tinasablan.com/forum
• “i would like to hear your thoughts about the tribune’s headline yesterday where cohen mentioned the possibility of granting permanent residence here in the commonweath to approx 8K non-resident workers. you testified in congress last month that you did not see anything wrong with this move and i wonder if you still have the same view today.” — John Jr., on www.tinasablan.com/forum
• “Tina, how can you put those animals above your own people?” — Anonymous caller, after the federal hearing in August
SOME citizens have asked me to explain my position supporting the efforts of nonresidents to improve their status in the commonwealth. Some have warned me that I will lose votes if I maintain this position. I can accept that. People should know where their candidates honestly stand on the issues, and then make their own informed decisions. I respect any citizen’s decision to vote or not vote for me based on a position that I have taken as a matter of conscience. My position supporting the efforts of nonresidents to improve their status in these islands is just that: a matter of conscience.
The fears that have been expressed by others in our community with respect to improving the status of long-term nonresidents have always struck me as illogical and misguided, not to mention racist. If we were to be very honest with ourselves, we would acknowledge that racism is alive and well in the commonwealth, and it has thrived under our exploitative immigration and labor system. I am still haunted by the question I received from an anonymous caller after the federal hearing in August: “Tina, how can you put those animals above your own people?” This person was talking, of course, about nonresidents in our community.
To me, that question signified the clearest, simplest expression of how much our community has been divided and weakened by our immigration and labor problems. We have on the one hand a class of nonresidents who are vulnerable to exploitation no matter how long they live here; they occupy most of the private sector jobs. We have on the other hand a class of residents who find it difficult to secure decent jobs and wages in the private sector, and so most work for the government, are practically held hostage by their jobs, and are afraid to speak their minds. Many of these residents have already left the islands out of frustration and in search of better opportunities for themselves and their families.
Our immigration and labor system has hurt us all — residents as well as nonresidents. My response to that anonymous caller, and to everyone else in this community who would ask me such a question is, “Those ‘animals’ you are referring to are also our people. We are all one people, and we are all suffering in the same sinking boat.”
And speaking of boats, I often think back to the old saying, “A rising tide floats all boats.” It applies well to the reason I support the efforts of nonresidents to improve their status here. Just as I believe that the status quo has hurt all of us, so too do I believe that we all stand to benefit from reform. Some people seem to think that a policy that hurts nonresidents, makes life difficult and more insecure for them, divides their families, and keeps them afraid of speaking out, must somehow be good for “locals.” But by now it should be painfully clear to all of us that we do not raise ourselves by tearing others down. Policies that hurt one group of people in our community will hurt all of us — and policies that help one group of people in our community will ultimately benefit the entire community. Hence, the rising tide.
I love this community enough to wish all people who call our islands home the opportunity to improve their quality of life. I love this community enough to consider everyone whose hearts, homes, and families are here as “local” as I am, and as deserving of the right to speak their minds and advocate for themselves as anyone else should be. I love this community enough to be angered by exploitation no matter who the perpetrator is, and to be distressed by poverty and village slums no matter who is poor and who is living in dilapidated homes and barracks. And I love this community enough to be deeply offended when anyone calls my friends, co-workers, former students, former teachers, and family members “animals” — no matter who is doing the name-calling.
Now, I know that I said earlier that our immigration and labor system has divided this community — and it has, in many ways, truly brought out the worst, most ignorant, and most racist instincts in some of our people. But in other ways, the amazing diversity of people in the commonwealth is slowly giving rise to a new, vibrant, and more tolerant culture, and there is much potential for this new culture to be one of our greatest strengths. I see it increasingly in my generation — a much freer acceptance and appreciation of other traditions, and a greater sympathy for people who have made their homes here and simply want better lives for themselves and their families. I see it even more in younger children. It gives me hope. And at a time like this, we need more than anything to be able to pull together as a community and make the most of the talents, skills, and resources of all our people.
We need, in other words, to seek out the tide that will raise us all.

TINA SABLAN
Fina Sisu, Saipan
P.S. Those who want more information on my position on federalization can access everything I have written on the subject (letters, testimony, notes, etc.) on the Commonwealth Dialogues forum, www.tinasablan.com/forum. See the “Immigration and Labor” post, and the documents listed under “My letters” and “My speeches.”