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ABC is a pimp cashing in on Tom's notoriety to boast ratings. Their selection of Delay as a contestant on their show is a slap in the face to every innocent man, woman and, yes, child who suffered abuses as foreign contract workers or victims of human trafficking in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. (CNMI). Perhaps ABC failed to consider those victims that Delay left in his wake when he was dancing in the House.
From 1984 to 1995 when I lived in the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) I witnessed the terrible labor and human rights abuses of contract workers who came from their homelands to work in the United States. They came from the Philippines, China, Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Russia, Pakistan, and other Asian countries. They sold their land, houses and businesses to pay up to $7,000 in recruitment fees for a chance to live the American dream. But too many of these workers lived a nightmare instead.
For years my husband and I assisted workers to seek refuge from abusive employers and helped them to file cases to seek justice. (Although not much justice was handed out then.) The workers who sought our help suffered from workplace abuses such as unpaid wages, indentured servitude, housing violations, contract violations, and discrimination. They suffered from criminal acts such as human trafficking, rape, torture, false imprisonment, assault and battery, and even murder. They fell victim to human rights abuses such as coerced abortion, forced prostitution and being denied the right to practice their religion. For the 20 years that I have had the honor and privilege of being an advocate for the disenfranchised guest workers of the CNMI I have regarded Tom Delay with deep disdain.
The CNMI government spent over $11 million to hire lobbyist Jack Abramoff to kill reform legislation in the U.S. Congress that would have applied federal immigration laws to the Marianas and stopped outrageous labor and human rights abuses in the islands. In December 1997 Tom Delay, his wife and daughter took one of the many Abramoff-CNMI sponsored junkets to the Northern Marianas. The junket included snorkeling, golf and a stay at the luxurious beachside Hyatt.
Delay was featured on ABC's 20/20 at a 1998 New Year's eve party in Saipan. The party was hosted by garment factory magnate and labor abuser, Willie Tan who would later boast about being a close friend of Delay. Tan was a major campaign contributor to Delay's political campaigns. His Saipan garment factories held the distinction of being fined the largest labor fine in U.S. history. This summer a settlement for factory EEOC violations cost Tan over $1.7 million.
Not a month after Delay and the junketers left Saipan, I was contracted by the Clinton Administration to lead a seven-member team of attorneys and human rights advocates to the CNMI to investigate and document current conditions of the guest workers. For three weeks in January and February 1998, we interviewed and filmed hundreds of foreign workers, touring barracks, factories, clubs and other work places. The deplorable living and working conditions, the intensity of the abuses and the escalation of unprovoked acts of violence being inflicted upon the workers stunned me. These were conditions that any visitor to the CNMI would plainly see. Yet, incredibly, Tom Delay claimed there were no abuses! He called those who worked to expose the abuses and appeal for reform, liars. He sidestepped justice, continuing his jive and spin.
While Abramoff and the CNMI had millions of dollars to back up their campaign of denial, I continued to fight back with only the truth to back my own campaign for justice. Finally, a CNMI reform bill, the Northern Mariana Islands Implementation Act (S 1052) was introduced by Republican Senator Frank Murkowski and Democrat Senator Daniel Akaka in 1999. It unanimously passed the Senate in February 2000. However, Tom Delay blocked that legislation in the House, again obstructing justice for the thousands of guest workers. He bragged about blocking it.
On June 17, 2006 Nousher Jaheti, a former CNMI victim of human trafficking, and I were interviewed by NPR in Washington, DC about Delay's congressional departure and his Abramoff-CNMI connections. My contempt for Delay surfaced as I listened to Nousher retell his story. To me Nousher represents the thousands upon thousands of cheated foreign contract workers who are hard-working, humble, good-intentioned, sincere and pure-hearted. Listen to this man's words:
YDSTIE: Guest workers were lured to the Marianas by recruiters in countries like China, the Philippines and Bangladesh, who told them they were going to the United States. The recruiters charged workers around $5,000 for the trip. Nashir Jahidi(ph) is one of the workers Wendy Doromol befriended. He came to Saipan, one of the Northern Mariana Islands from Bangladesh by way of the Philippines. He says when he got on the plane, he thought he was going to America.
Mr. NASHIR JAHIDI (Ex-Worker): And not only me, there was some people that recruiter exactly told him that he can be going to Los Angeles by train from Saipan. So when I hear that the plane, you know, the host or somebody's saying they were about to land in Saipan and I when I looked out the window and I saw it's like blue water everywhere and small island and I was like, how?
YDSTIE: So you thought that you were going to be going to California or somewhere on the U.S. mainland?
Mr. JAHIDI: Not only me, most of the worker. They were surprised when they see the United States flag and the local island flag and we used the U.S. dollar, we used the U.S. stamp and everything, then people understand that this is only a small island. There is no way that you have the opportunity like what's in the United States.
ABC's camera's caught Delay saying to the CNMI leaders, "You are a shining light for the Republican Party and you represent everything that is good about what we are trying to do in America and leading the world in the free market system."
The system that he praised, the CNMI's labor and immigration system, continues to be a dysfunctional, broken system that regards the foreign workers as disposable commodities rather than as future citizens. It is a system where laws are not enforced and thousands of cheated workers have been unable to collect monetary judgments owed to them by unscrupulous employers. Delay praised the exclusive society that allows a major portion of the population to be disenfranchised without political and social rights. He lauded the economy built on the backs of indentured servants that has since collapsed.
Most junket travelers that accepted trips to the CNMI not only ignored the labor and human rights abuses, but they denied them. Delay was among the worst. He didn't just deny the abuses, but he promoted the dysfunctional and exploitive labor and immigration system that perpetuated them. He praised the system in "Dear Colleague" letters, in choreographed speeches made on the floor of the House and in numerous interviews. He danced around the truth to the detriment of thousands of foreign workers.
Not a month after Delay and the junketers left Saipan, I was contracted by the Clinton Administration to lead a seven-member team of attorneys and human rights advocates to the CNMI to investigate and document current conditions of the guest workers. For three weeks in January and February 1998, we interviewed and filmed hundreds of foreign workers, touring barracks, factories, clubs and other work places. The deplorable living and working conditions, the intensity of the abuses and the escalation of unprovoked acts of violence being inflicted upon the workers stunned me. These were conditions that any visitor to the CNMI would plainly see. Yet, incredibly, Tom Delay claimed there were no abuses! He called those who worked to expose the abuses and appeal for reform, liars. He sidestepped justice, continuing his jive and spin.
While Abramoff and the CNMI had millions of dollars to back up their campaign of denial, I continued to fight back with only the truth to back my own campaign for justice. Finally, a CNMI reform bill, the Northern Mariana Islands Implementation Act (S 1052) was introduced by Republican Senator Frank Murkowski and Democrat Senator Daniel Akaka in 1999. It unanimously passed the Senate in February 2000. However, Tom Delay blocked that legislation in the House, again obstructing justice for the thousands of guest workers. He bragged about blocking it.
On June 17, 2006 Nousher Jaheti, a former CNMI victim of human trafficking, and I were interviewed by NPR in Washington, DC about Delay's congressional departure and his Abramoff-CNMI connections. My contempt for Delay surfaced as I listened to Nousher retell his story. To me Nousher represents the thousands upon thousands of cheated foreign contract workers who are hard-working, humble, good-intentioned, sincere and pure-hearted. Listen to this man's words:
YDSTIE: Guest workers were lured to the Marianas by recruiters in countries like China, the Philippines and Bangladesh, who told them they were going to the United States. The recruiters charged workers around $5,000 for the trip. Nashir Jahidi(ph) is one of the workers Wendy Doromol befriended. He came to Saipan, one of the Northern Mariana Islands from Bangladesh by way of the Philippines. He says when he got on the plane, he thought he was going to America.
Mr. NASHIR JAHIDI (Ex-Worker): And not only me, there was some people that recruiter exactly told him that he can be going to Los Angeles by train from Saipan. So when I hear that the plane, you know, the host or somebody's saying they were about to land in Saipan and I when I looked out the window and I saw it's like blue water everywhere and small island and I was like, how?
YDSTIE: So you thought that you were going to be going to California or somewhere on the U.S. mainland?
Mr. JAHIDI: Not only me, most of the worker. They were surprised when they see the United States flag and the local island flag and we used the U.S. dollar, we used the U.S. stamp and everything, then people understand that this is only a small island. There is no way that you have the opportunity like what's in the United States.
