By Jim Benedetto
For Variety

IMAGINE the CNMI as a giant jigsaw puzzle, showing our islands not just as they are now, but also as they have been, and as they someday will be. Now imagine that each of us has a piece of that puzzle, and that nobody can know what the final picture will look like until every piece is fit into place.
Governor Fitial, the attorney general, the secretary of labor, the director of immigration, the members of the 15th Commonwealth Legislature and lots of other current and former government officials have a piece. The governor’s special assistant for trade relations, Richard A. Pierce, has had a piece for a long time. The Saipan Chamber of Commerce, HANMI, MVA, those who fight human trafficking and provide services to its victims, and many other people — not the least of whom our guest workers — lay claim to a piece of this large and complex picture.
None of us can see more than a few of the pieces at once; we all get to looking so closely at OUR piece, that we fool ourselves into thinking it must be the biggest, most important one. And because we can only see one, or at most two or three, of the pieces, we all have very different ideas of what the big picture will show when it’s completed.
Those who would overlook the past as “ancient history” likely hold a piece of the puzzle that shows the future we all hope for. Likewise, some dismiss “anecdotal” accounts as unrepresentative, in favor of statistics (conveniently forgetting what Mark Twain said about statistics). Those who regret the missed opportunities of the past remind us we are doomed to repeat our mistakes until we finally learn from them. But just as neither a picture of the dump or one of Bird Island Beach on a sunny day could reveal Saipan in all its beauty and complexity, neither the past nor the future alone can tell us very much. This simple metaphor describes the reality of the situation the people of the commonwealth now find themselves in.
During the recent Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee oversight hearing in Washington, D.C., Senators Bingaman, Akaka and Tester tried to put the pieces together, with some help from my boss, David Cohen, and the others who provided testimony. That effort seems likely to continue well into 2007, as legislation is drafted and revised, and more hearings are held.
We all have a stake in helping them see the big picture, and that means they — and we — need to see as many pieces of the puzzle as they can. It would be a mistake to try and stifle or silence those with opposing views. Even when we think others are mistaken, consideration of their views often strengthens our own arguments. The truth is often revealed, as in the courtroom, only when there is a healthy difference of opinion. And if we do not respect each other enough to have a civil debate about the issues, we risk losing something far more important than control over immigration: our sense of community.
Reasonable people may differ on whether the progress made in the past 10 years justifies continued local control over immigration, or whether the minimum wage needs to be raised. Information about workers’ complaints, and how the CNMI deals with them, is the perspective that I was expected to bring to the hearing, my “piece of the puzzle,” so to speak. So, it is no surprise that the Senate committee had some pointed questions about the governments’ (federal and local) failure to shut down businesses and prosecute those who have repeatedly failed to pay their workers.
Nevertheless, I left the hearing with the distinct impression that the CNMI came off rather badly. Someone who had never heard of the CNMI could easily have emerged from the hearing thinking that little progress on labor issues had been made; that CNMI officials and business leaders don’t care about the rights of guest workers; and that the CNMI is a community entirely divided by its differing views. None of these things is true.
The CNMI has made a lot of progress, as shown by the decline in the number of worker groups who sought the ombudsman’s assistance from 1999 (over 1200) to 2006 (less than 500). And 500 complaints out of some 30,000 nonresident workers means less than two per cent of those workers felt the need to complain.
Government and business leaders are sincerely concerned about labor and immigration violations. Many hardworking and dedicated people in the AG’s Office, its Division of Immigration and the Department of Labor juggle impossible workloads while trying to do the right thing. Members of the Commonwealth Legislature —particularly Chairwoman Cinta Kaipat’s House JGO Committee — have devoted much effort to a comprehensive revision of the Nonresident Workers Act that will, if passed, “increase protection of workers’ rights without creating entitlements,” in Chairwoman Kaipat’s words. And business leaders have expressed frustration and outrage over the fact that such violations continue to occur.
You only need to read the letters to the editor every day to see that, for the most part, we are clearly not divided about the need for further action, whether it is at the local level or with the assistance of the federal government. The debate, although spirited, is (mostly) respectful of dissenting views. Many of those who write conclude that we must work together for the good of the community. The letters, rallies and discussion forums, the involvement of students and others getting involved in public discourse for the first time, and the diversity of the voices and views expressed, are healthy and hopeful signs that whatever action the U.S. Congress takes, the CNMI will emerge stronger, more unified, and better equipped to deal with the challenges ahead.