Kaʻū News Briefs, Tuesday, May 28, 2019

     Nancy Daschbach, sanctuary acting-superintendent, said, "The members of our sanctuary advisory council represent extremely important elements of our community. We rely on their input, experience, and expertise to assist us in making informed and timely decisions on how best to protect and conserve our humpback whales, and important cultural and natural resources."
     Candidates are selected based on their expertise and experience in relation to the seat for which they are applying, community and professional affiliations, and views regarding the protection and
management of marine resources. Applicants who are chosen as primary or alternate members should expect to serve a three-year term.
     Applications are due by Friday, June 21. To receive an application kit, or for further information, contact Cindy Among-Serrao at Cindy.Among-Serrao@noaa.gov or 808-725-5923, or visit the sanctuary website at hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov/
council/council_app_accepting.html.
     The sanctuary, administered by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, protects humpback whales and their habitat in Hawaiian waters, where they migrate each winter to mate, calve, and nurse their young.
     A statement from NOAA says its mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. See Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media channels for National Marine Sanctuaries.

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"MARSHALLESE FACE DIFFICULTIES obtaining the identification they need to get a job, go to school, or travel," according to Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who charged in a letter today that the federal Department of Homeland Security rules "contradict existing law, and must immediately be corrected."
     The Marshallese and others migrants covered by the Compact of Freely Associated States face "an urgent situation impacting thousands of people who have legally come to the United States and are suffering the consequences of this bureaucratic mishap," she wrote in a letter co-signed by colleagues in Congress. She said Department of Homeland Security administrative rules place undue constraints of Compact of Freely Associated States migrants seeking to obtain REAL IDs and that agreements the United States made through the Compact of Free Association are being undermined by current Department of Homeland Security rules.
     Gabbard pointed to bill, H.R. 3398, which was previously signed into law and designed to correct an "egregious oversight" which prevented citizens of the Freely Associated States from obtaining anything more than a temporary ID or driver's license.
     Said Alaska Congressman Don Young, who co-authored the bill with Gabbard, "As a practical matter, this can hurt their ability to maintain long-term employment or engage in other lawful activities where they legally reside." He said that recent guidance put into place by the Department of Homeland Security has imposed additional burdens on these citizens. "Free Associated States citizens who reside here are proud to call the United States and its territories home, and it is my hope that DHS will work with us to find a long-term solution for them in line with the intent of Congress."

     Said Congressman Ed Case, "Our Compacts of Free Association with the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republics of Palau and the Marshall Islands, are of key importance to all of our countries. The Compacts permit citizens of the Freely Associated States to live and work in our country with a valid unexpired passport and documentation that they entered under the Compacts. It is directly contrary to the Compacts to impose onerous additional requirements that make it very difficult for them to access the basics of everyday life like driving and working."

     The April 2019 DHS guidance requires COFA migrants to produce documents not required by their migration status in order to obtain their REAL IDs. REAL IDs are necessary for a range of things which have significant impact on the day-to-day lives of individuals, including employment, travel, participation in federal programs, and entry to federal buildings.
     For more on the Marshallese, see Monday's Kaʻū News Briefs.