States that has no parallel in our history.”rnCongress was more direct. In its 1976 report,rn”The Covenant to Establish arnCommonwealth of the Northern MarianarnIslands,” the Senate bluntly stated:rn”The term ‘commonwealth’ is not arnword describing any single kind of politicalrnrelationship or status.” What thisrnmeans in real terms is that, despite therndifferences in the scope of the politicalrnpowers exercised by American Samoa,rnGuam, the Federated States of Micronesia,rnthe Marshall Islands, the NorthernrnMarianas, Palau, Puerto Rico, and thernU.S. Virgin Islands, each possesses powersrngreater than the states.rnThe most important power Congressrnhas awarded the territories is local controlrnover immigration, a power denied tornthe states since 1875, when the federalrngovernment established direct regulationrnover immigration. Recognizing thatrnimmigration can have an adverse impactrnon the demographics of a land, Congressrnhas given American Samoa, the FederatedrnStates of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands,rnthe Northern Marianas, and Palaurnthe right to control immigration to theirrnterritories so those islanders can preserverntheir ethnic, racial, and cultural identities.rnWhen this power was abused, it onlyrnhighlighted the superior political positionrnenjoyed by the territories. In thernNorthern Marianas, local control overrnimmigration has been exploited by anrnalliance of businesses and politicians torninundate the archipelago with ThirdrnWorld laborers, principally Chinese andrnFilipinos. As a result. Third World im-rnT OrnS U B S C R I B Ernplease callrn1 •800-877-5459rnmigrants (usually working for less thanrnminimum wage) now constitute 90 percentrnof the private labor force, while thernunemployment rate for the native-bornrnexceeds 14 percent.rnExpressing concern over the adverserneconomic impact that Third Worldrnimmigration is having on the local population,rnthe Clinton administration hasrnproposed that Congress abolish thernNorthern Marianas’ right to control immigrationrnto its islands, thus returningrnthat power to Washington. AlthoughrnThird World immigration to the 50rnstates is depressing the wages of nativebornrnworkers by $13? billion a year, displacingrnover two million native-bornrnworkers annually, and contributing to anrnunemployment rate for blacks that isrntwice the national average, this adverserneconomic impact elicits no such concernrnfrom the Clinton administration.rnCongress has also permitted territoriesrnto enact land alienation laws —i.e., tornplace race-based restiictions on the ownershiprnof land. In order to own land inrnthe Federated States of Micronesia, thernMarshal] Islands, or Palau, one must be arncitizen of that particular “republic,”rnwhich, in effect, means one must belongrnto a specific ethnic group. One mustrnmeet a prescribed definition of islandrn”descent” to own any land in the NorthernrnMarianas and most land in AmericanrnSamoa. Such racial restrictions onrnland ownership violate the equal protectionrnclause and the privileges and immunitiesrnclause of the I4th Amendment,rnand the just compensation clause of thernFifth Amendment. Moreover, Congressrngrants the Federated States of Micronesia,rnthe Marshall Islands, and Palau theirrnown separate citizenship.rnCongress also allows all eight territoriesrnseparate representation in internationalrnorganizations. American Samoarnbelongs to six international organizations;rnGuam, 14; the Federated States ofrnMicronesia, 16; the Marshall Islands, 14;rnthe Northern Marianas, nine; Palau, 12;rnPuerto Rico, 14; and the U.S. VirginrnIslands, seven. For example, the FederatedrnStates of Micronesia, the MarshallrnIslands, and Palau are members of thernUnited Nations; American Samoa,rnGuam, and the Northern Marianas havernmembership in the South Pacific Commission;rnPuerto Rico has membershiprnand the U.S. Virgin Islands has observerrnstatus in the Caribbean Economic Community;rnand all eight territories are membersrnof the International Olympic Committee.rnSuch attributes of sovereigntyrnare denied to the states.rnCongress even permits the NorthernrnMarianas to violate proportional representationrnin its legislature. The islands ofrnRota, Tinian, and Saipan are providedrnequal representation despite the fact thatrnthe population of Saipan is six timesrngreater than the other two islands combined.rnTherefore, there is one Senatorrnfor 4,500 residents on Saipan, 400 residentsrnon Rota, and 250 residents on Tinian.rnThis violates the equal protectionrnclause of the I4th and 15th Amendments.rnIt also violates the U.S. SupremernCourt decision in Reynolds v. Simsrn(1964), which ruled that both chambersrnof a bicameral legislature must be apportionedrnon the basis of population; otherwise,rnan individual’s vote has been “in arnsubstantial fashion diluted.” The Courtrnexpressly declared “historical, economic,rnor other groups’ interests, or area alone,rndo not justify deviation from the equalproportionrnprinciple.”rnCongress permits American Samoa tornlimit membership in the upper chamberrnof its legislature to village chiefs (matai)rnchosen according to Samoan customs.rnThis violates the privileges and immunitiesrnclause of the 14th Amendment byrnrestricting the Senate to the Samoanrnnobility.rnFinally, Congress permits AmericanrnSamoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S.rnVirgin Islands, and even the District ofrnColumbia to have delegates to the U.S.rnHouse of Representatives who can voternin its subcommittees, full committees,rnand caucuses. This practice violates thern14th Amendment. The votes of the citizensrnof the 50 states are “in a substantialrnfashion diluted” because the voting powerrnof their elected representatives in thernrespective committees and caucuses hasrnbeen adulterated. Although the delegatesrnfrom these five “territories” do notrnvote on bills before the full House, byrnvoting in the subcommittees, full committees,rnand caucuses they help determinernwhat bills actually make it to thernfloor of the full House for such a vote.rnNor does the restructiiring of the UnitedrnStates end here. There is the demandrnthat Puerto Rico be given statehood —rnbut a statehood with privileges. The currentrnResident Commissioner of PuertornRico to the U.S. House of Representativesrn(and a former governor of the island),rnCarlos Romero-Barcelo, advocatesrnPuerto Rican statehood not on thernbasis of U.S. patriotism but on the bene-rn46/CHRONICLESrnrnrn