The Department of Corrections’ Hagåtña Detention Facility is shown in this file photo.
A PROPOSAL to transfer Guam inmates to the Saipan prison facility is still in its initial phases, but some CNMI residents have already spoken against it. One of them, Ben Basa, fears that when the inmates from Guam “sit down and [start] chatting [with Saipan inmates], they’re going to get along and [the Guamanians] are probably going to teach [the local inmates new tricks].” Basa said once released, these CNMI inmates could commit crime with greater sophistication and potentially elude capture.
Corrections Commissioner Anthony Torres said the proposal aims to ease the overcrowding at Guam’s correctional facility while providing the CNMI with badly needed revenue. He also noted that the Saipan prison facility is currently underutilized. Torres said he hopes that the critics of the proposal will approach it with an open mind.
For his part, the governor’s special assistant for broadband policy and development, Glen Hunter, said it “is not uncommon” for “states to execute agreements like this with other states.” “We have the proper facilities to house inmates and if we have ample space, it shouldn’t matter where the inmates [are] from,” he stated in a social media post. “If a visitor from Guam came out here and committed a crime he would be placed in our prison. This doesn’t create a financial burden and instead alleviates us from financial burdens.”
Hunter said things will be clearer for the public once they learn about the safeguards that will be in place, and how the funding for the program will be handled. House Floor Leader Edwin Propst said he “understands…the merits of it. I do understand how it could seriously help financially this Commonwealth and the Department of Corrections.” But Ignacio Dela Cruz, a language speech pathologist, said inmates from Guam “are not tourists.” “The idea of importing convicted inmates is something I am not comfortable with,” he added. “The Guam Department of Corrections had years to come up with solutions to their prison system and now they are dumping their inmates on us,” Dela Cruz said.
Commissioner Torres said if Guam would pay $120 per inmate per day, and transfer over 100 inmates to Saipan, the CNMI could generate over $4.3 million in revenue each year. He said the CNMI corrections facility can accommodate a total of 500 inmates, but currently has fewer than 200. Torres said he would only allow non-violent, relatively healthy prisoners to take part in the transfer program. Guam State Clearinghouse Officer Stephanie Flores said once the Guam inmates served their sentences at the Saipan facility, “they will be returned to Guam.” Guam and CNMI officials have reiterated that the proposal is still in its early stages and no agreements have been finalized yet. They also promised to consult residents before taking further steps on the proposal.
<p style=”text-align: center;”><strong><em>”The Guam Department of Corrections had years to come up with solutions to their prison system and now they are dumping their inmates on us.”</em></strong>