To this point let us just say, theoretically, that when the Compacts were first negotiated and came into being with these island entities of the Republic of Marshalls, the Federated States of Micronesia (both in 1986), and the Republic of Palau (in 1994), that the U.S. government conferred upon the FAS citizens de facto U.S. citizenship as well. Without a doubt, the costs accrued in various governmental support systems would stay the same given the ease of migration, and maybe would have even seen an increase, but without a doubt as well I would argue, there would have been less scrutiny on the burdens they place in these U.S. jurisdictions.
If the only difference between these island residents and residents of the outlying and proper areas of the United States is their citizenship, then that is a shame because these residents fight under the same U.S. flag and therefore adhere to the same Constitution at least in this regard. And it is also a shame because there are other groups, both in the majority such as single, white women, and in the minority such as various ethnic groups that avail themselves of these same support systems, especially in an global economic downturn that is deep and persistent.
And when people say that the U.S. federal government should pay for these costs, either at the locales where they are being incurred or at the source where these governments sit, what they do not realize is that when the feds pretty much ignore U.S. citizens who do not have health care (about 1 in 6) and ignores kids going hungry (about 1 in 10), there is not much of a chance the U.S. is going to care all that much about FAS citizens.
One could conclude, then, that it is not an issue of citizenship, but rather an issue of priorities where those in poverty are neglected, because to be poor in America, it has been said, is to be despised. Politics and governance issues in the U.S. are driven by the super-wealthy and their water-carriers, which is why a huge disparity exists between the wealthy and the middle-class and the rest, a troubling statistic for a developed nation seeking to maintain its pre-eminent status as a global power.
MATT PHILIPS
Mangilao, Guam
