Posted on: Tuesday, May 27, 2003
New compacts may increase migration, add burden on state
By B.J. Reyes
Associated Press
New agreements aimed at weaning two Pacific island nations off U.S. aid could lead to increased migration to Hawai'i, putting a heavy burden on the state, an expert on Pacific Island studies says.
Recently signed revisions to the Compacts of Free Association for the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands would gradually reduce U.S. aid during the next 20 years and establish trust funds aimed at sustaining the islands' economies after the United States stops making payments in 2024.
The diversion of millions of dollars could make it difficult for the Micronesian and Marshallese governments to come up with their own annual money to maintain adequate social services, said Gerard Finin, acting director of the Pacific Islands Development Program at the East-West Center in Honolulu.
If the two governments decide to cut back on government services to save money, "my concern is that as conditions become more difficult in each of these countries, there will be increasing outflows," Finin said.
"As anybody who's ever studied migration knows, people tend to go where they already have friends, relatives or some familiarity — I think that's where the impact on Hawai'i will be felt most clearly," he said.
Thousands of islanders have come to Hawai'i under the compact's wide-open immigration provisions, and government services are feeling the pinch.
Although the Marshallese and Micronesian people, under the compacts, are free to move anywhere in the United States or its remaining Pacific territories, Hawai'i is an obvious lure. It's relatively close and offers the full benefits of living in an American state without having to give up island life.
"I think that's a legitimate concern," Gov. Linda Lingle said recently. "If people feel they don't have the opportunities at home or they can't get appropriate healthcare for their families, they're going to go where they can get it ... and the probability is high they'll come here because they're comfortable here and because they're accepted here."
The issue is hardly new to Hawai'i, which counts a population of about 7,000 Marshallese and a slightly smaller number from Micronesia, Finin said.
In the past four years, the state has spent an estimated $100 million providing education, health and social services for a free flow of migrants from Micronesia and the Marshalls, which negotiated the compacts in 1986 after the termination of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands that had given the United States a United Nations' trusteeship over the islands.
The compacts recognize the new nations' independence, provide them continued U.S. aid and allow their citizens to migrate freely to the United States. In exchange, the United States receives defense rights, including continued use of Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshalls as a key missile testing facility.
The federal law outlining U.S. policy regarding the compacts provides that "the Congress will act sympathetically and expeditiously to redress" any adverse consequences caused to Hawai'i, Guam and the Northern Marianas by migrations from Micronesia and the Marshall Islands, which are about 2,500 miles southwest of Hawai'i.
Lingle said federal officials who envisioned the reduced money to the Marshalls and Micronesia need to realize that it could have an effect on Hawai'i.
"It will be our obligation to make certain that they understand that," she said. Lingle and other state officials have called on the federal government for more help.
Nonbinding resolutions adopted by the state House and Senate urge the Bush administration and Congress to restore federal benefits to Micronesian migrants and provide compensation for Hawai'i's current costs and reimbursement for its expenses during the past 17 years.
Lawmakers also seek compensation for Hawai'i hospitals, claiming more than $10 million for medical services to Micronesians who have appeared on their doorsteps during the past four years.
"All of us feel we need to be getting more money from the federal government, especially in the area of healthcare and the reimbursement of healthcare," Lingle said. "It's something we just have to continue working on."
Although the recently signed compact amendments still require legislative approval by all three governments, Hawai'i, Guam and the Northern Marianas are expected to receive about $15 million a year over the next 20 years to help offset the economic effect of having to provide healthcare, education and other social services to migrants.
While Hawai'i would get the biggest share of the money, it is yet to be determined how that money would be allocated.
"At this point in time I don't think there's been any good analysis or clear thinking about how those monies need to be used and whether they will, in fact, be sufficient for the kinds of impacts that we're talking about over the next 10 to 15 years," Finin said.
Second-language teaching and public health services are just two of the services that will need to be strengthened, he said.
