More evidence of Gitmo transfer

I’m thinking of creating a Gitmo-to-Guam meter indicating the continuing odds that detainees on Guantanamo will end up on Guam. After reading this story, Budget bill does not bar detainees from U.S. territories, in the Saipan Tribune, the odds seem to be improving.

This story by reporter Haidee Eugenio tells of a provision in the Supplemental War Appropriation bill (H.R. 2346) that “bars the hosting of Guantanamo Bay detainees in any U.S. states and the District of Columbia, but not in CNMI and other U.S. territories.”
Congressional delegates of CNMI, Guam, American Samoa and Puerto Rico, sent a letter to President Obama protesting this provision.

The letter to President Obama is diplomatic. The delegates aren’t accusing their fellow members of Congress of overt colonialism or the president of any intent. It says in part: “Although we have no reason to believe that your Administration intends to release or transfer any detainees to the U.S. territories, we write to express our concern about any decision in this context that may treat the territories differently than the 50 states or the District of Columbia.”

The Pacific News Center has a photocopy of the letter.

This exclusion is no minor oversight. Kevin Kerrigan, who reported the story for the Pacific News Center, points out that by excluding U.S. Territories it “leaves the door open for un-encumbered transfers of Gitmo detainees to Guam, the CNMI, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico.”

Guam considered for Gitmo detainee trials?

There are hints emerging that Guam is about to become a dumping ground for the Guantanamo military detainees, possibly a location for trials. In a way I’m not surprised, but in another way I think I’m totally outraged by even the thought of it.

Guam has already lost one-third of its island to the military. It is getting a build-up of troops that will increase the island’s population by 15%. It has no vote in Congress. Guam does not get the respect it deserves from the U.S. political leadership. It has second class status but deserves being treated as a full equal.

The U.S. has to decide where it is going to hold the detainee trials. There are now about 229 detainees in Cuba. Some will be sent back to their country of origin, but others, and it is uncertain how many, will be held over for trial.

I am certain that there are some people on Guam who will welcome the detainee trials. It will likely bring hundreds, if not thousands, of people to the island, including international press. Restaurants and hotels will benefit. The press coverage may or may not help the island; it will all depend whether reporters try to understand the island or default to stereotypes.

But if the U.S. holds these trials on Guam it will be out of political expediency and to avoid stateside opposition. Guam, will, once again, be treated like a mere possession and its people of no importance.

What is the evidence that Guam may be picked? It’s really thin at this point.

-- A political writer in the Atlantic has Guam on his short list of guesses.

-- The decision by the Palau to take 13 detainees from Cuba. A Pacific Daily News opinion piece by William Clearly was spot-on with this observation: "Palau's eagerness to please Washington is best explained by the island government's lack of any real bargaining leverage, unlike 15 years ago when the U.S. needed to extricate itself from a U.N. trusteeship obligation to support Palau's social, economic and political development. That was why Washington agreed to subsidize Palau for a decade and a half." The U.S. decision to move some detainees to Palau says two things of importance for Guam: 1. The government is clearly considering the Pacific islands as a possible location. 2. Guam may have a little more bargaining leverage than Palau, but not too much more.

-- Guam was the original list of possible locations for holding the detainees before Cuba was selected.

-- In a recent interview on CBS, Sen. John McCain acknowledges the difficulty of finding a place in the U.S. that will accept the detainees. Here's a telling excerpt from that story: McCain "said an overall and comprehensive plan on finding a safe and secure place to house detainees is necessary to convince the public. "But to just say 'we're going to send them some place in the United States,' it arouses the obvious reaction: NIMBY, not in my back yard. And I fully understand that. I don't want them in Arizona, either!"

Guam quarter arrives

The new Guam quarter finally arrived. It looks really nice. I especially like how it presents the islands geography in relief, showing the mountains in the south. U.S. Mint has some images for download; scroll down until you see Guam. I am thinking of ordering this six coin proof that includes District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, U.S. Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands. (This is a good quiz question: What does Guam have in common with the District of Columbia?) It cost $29.95.

Guam's build-up outrage

The Pacific Daily News is tracking the foreign labor issue closely. It should. With Guam due to bring up to 20,000 foreign laborers to build facilities for the military, the newspaper’s role as a watchdog will be paramount.

What’s really, really unfortunate, however, is this: These facilities are being built with U.S. tax dollars in support of America’s armed forces, and yet Guam has been duped into believing that this work has to be completed by foreign labor.

Why can’t U.S. labor be used from Guam, Hawaii and the mainland to build these facilities? Why can’t these jobs go to U.S. workers who will return this income back to their respective communities?

Technically, construction bidding will be open to any firm, but firms that use lower cost labor will have the advantage. To get some idea about the future of this build-up, read the PDN's story May 30 about foreign construction workers living in unfinished buildings and waiting to get paid.

Sen. Matt Rector attempted to limit use of foreign labor by imposing a $20,000 fee on each H-2B visa. His bill failed because Guam lawmakers lack the political will to come up with a method for ensuring that construction projects paid with federal tax dollars will pay the salaries of U.S. workers and not foreign labor. It really is an outrage, and, frankly, I think once more people realize outside of Guam just what is going on here, a storm will blow.

Guam military build-up increases population 15%

The U.S. Government Accountability Office provides a summary of the impact of the military build-up. In short, Guam will need a complete make-over to support it. The GAO is worried whether the leadership is in place to manage this daunting project.

Summary of what the build-up means:

As a result of the military buildup, Guam’s current population of 171,000 will increase by an estimated 25,000 active duty military personnel and dependents (or 14.6 percent), to 196,000. In addition, the realignment will require additional workers to move to the island, including non-defense personnel, DOD contractors, and transient military personnel. As such, the U.S. military realignment and buildup will substantially impact Guam’s community and infrastructure.

What is now lacking:

Construction demands will exceed local capacity and the availability of workers on Guam. In addition, Guam’s infrastructure is inadequate to meet the increased demand because of the military buildup.

The buildup requires double the existing port capacity, and Guam’s major highways may not have enough capacity to accommodate the increased traffic since the two major highways on Guam, which the military will use to transport supplies, need major improvements.

In addition, Guam’s electric grid may be inadequate to fully support the buildup. Further, Guam’s water and waste-water systems are near capacity, and demand may increase by 25 percent. Guam’s solid-waste facilities also face capacity and environmental challenges as they have reached the end of their projected useful life.

Guam data online

Looking at GuamWatchDog, the Pacific Daily News index of searchable data sources at Gov Guam. It's a nice start, but it has a long way to go.

The new federal CIO Vivek Kundra has plans to vastly expand searchable databases at a project he is planning called data.gov. It’s due to launch in late May.

In his prior position, Kundra was chief technology of the District of Columbia. He built out a long list of data sources in what they call a Data Catalog.

I think Kundra will help push local governments, including Guam, in the direction of sharing more data online. But it may take legislative push to make it happen.

Cost of living on Guam

One of the points that Sen. Matt Rector's the Middle Class Job Creation Act of 2009 makes concerns the wage disparity between Guam and Hawaii.

When companies hire foreign workers they typically have to cite the prevailing wage as part of the visa application. Companies are required to pay prevailing wage to keep from undercutting the local workforce. The intent is to supplement the local workforce, not replace it.

But even at prevailing wage, foreign workers can still be paid less. They can be pegged at a lower experience level and may not receive the same benefits of a local worker. Moreover, the visa is tied to their continuing employment -- the ability of a foreign worker to change jobs is limited.

But on the prevailing wage issue, many employers use the Foreign Labor Certification Data Center to determine the prevailing wage for a given location.

I looked at one occupation, construction manager, to see how pay rates differ between Guam and Hawaii in this job category.

Assuming my data is correct, it shows a remarkable difference. For instance, a Level 1 construction manager on Hawaii is paid 84% more than a Level 1 construction manager on Guam. The gap narrows as you move up the experience level, but it is still striking.

If anything, Rector may have understated the wage disparity between Hawaii and Guam.

Guam

OES/SOC Title: Construction Managers
Level 1 Wage: $14.59 hour - $30,347 year
Level 2 Wage: $19.97 hour - $41,538 year
Level 3 Wage: $25.36 hour - $52,749 year
Level 4 Wage: $30.74 hour - $63,939 year
GeoLevel: 1

Hawaii

OES/SOC Title: Construction Managers
Level 1 Wage: $26.85 hour - $55,848 year
Level 2 Wage: $35.45 hour - $73,736 year
Level 3 Wage: $44.06 hour - $91,645 year
Level 4 Wage: $52.66 hour - $109,533 year

Is there a similar cost of living disparity between Guam and Hawaii?

I used the cost of living calculator at SalaryExpert to get a rough estimate. According to it: If I earned $50,000 a year on Guam I would need to earn $59,560 on Hawaii to have a comparable standard of living as renter, a 19% difference. These percentages may change with salary level, so this example may not be true for all wage levels.