No deal has been struck between the parties amid questions on how the rate was established as Guam is currently charging just $77.
With no space to hold detained aliens charged with criminal or immigration violations, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, was forced to release at least 27 of these detainees on their own recognizance.
According to a report of the General Accountability Office, the investigative arm of the U.S. Congress, ICE attempted to negotiate with the CNMI government for space at the local corrections facility as early as March 2009.
The CNMI’s first offer was $107 per day. This went down to $105 per day but no justification was provided,
“Since January 2010, negotiations between ICE and the CNMI regarding detention space have been on hold. According to the ICE contracting official, the CNMI has not provided any additional information supporting its $105 rate. Before contracting for beds, ICE requires documentation that establishes a fair and reasonable cost,” the report said.
It added, “According to the CNMI attorney general, further documentation for the $105 rate is not necessary because the commonwealth is negotiating as an equal partner rather than as an applicant submitting cost proposals to DHS. ICE officials noted that although they had briefed the DHS Office of Policy on this operational challenge, ICE had remained responsible for the negotiations because of its expertise. ICE officials also observed that the CNMI had rebuffed all ICE efforts to acquire detention space.”
The local corrections facilities have 513 beds but only 134 of them are occupied, the GAO said.
ICE proposed to have the 2007 U.S. Marshals Service agreement amended before its expiration date — April 1, 2010 — or establish a new agreement with the CNMI government.
Since the islands’ immigration system was federalized on Nov. 28, 2009, at least 10 ICE officials were detailed to Saipan to provide outreach to the CNMI community, assess local security risks and identify aliens in violation of U.S. immigration law.
The GAO cited in its report the case of 24 Chinese nationals whose attempt to illegally enter Guam was foiled on Jan. 5, 2010 because the captain of the boat was actually an undercover agent.
One of those caught, Qingmei Cheng, was the masseuse of Gov. Benigno R. Fitial.
A federal detainee, she was brought by corrections officials to the governor’s residence in Gualo Rai to massage him.
The incident prompted the U.S. Attorney’s Office to seek an evidentiary hearing which the federal court rejected while suggesting further investigation into the incident.
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