(THE GUAM DAILY POST) – With the stroke of his pen, and a one-way ticket, Guam Governor Eddie Calvo made good on his promise to deport felony or habitual non-citizen criminals from the island with or without the assistance of the federal government.
A citizen from the Federated States of Micronesia became the island’s test case for the government of Guam as Calvo ordered his deportation. In order to effectuate the process, Calvo invoked his Organic Act authority and issued executive order 2016-15, which he signed Sunday, July 10.
According to Oyaol Ngirairikl, the governor’s spokeswoman, through a collaborative effort with the Department of Corrections, FSM Citizen Ninton Hauk, a Department of Corrections inmate, was selected and agreed to have his sentence commuted in exchange for a one-way ticket to his home state of Chuuk. “He’s been deported,” Ngirairikl confirmed to the Post.
Corrections Deputy Director Carla Borja also confirmed that Hauk was transported to the A.B. Won Pat International Airport yesterday morning by corrections officers and escorted to the plane.
“Corrections bore the cost of the travel,” Borja said. “His commutation was based on his removal from the department and the island.”
Ngirairikl and Borja stressed that at no time was Hauk a free man in Guam between the commutation of his sentence and his travel Thursday.
In his order, and in a letter to FSM President Peter Christian dated July 12, Calvo stated, “As the governor of Guam, I have ‘residual authority to enforce the immigration laws of the United States,’ and authority to ’grant pardons and reprieves…for offenses against local laws.”
Calvo informed Christian of his intent to commute the sentence and then deport the repeat offender back to Chuuk.
Calvo copied several local, regional and federal entities on his action and letter to Christian including U.S. Attorney Alicia Limtiaco, Attorney General of Guam Elizabeth Barrett-Anderson and Esther Kia’aina, assistant secretary for insular affairs of the Department of the Interior.
“Everyone in Guam is required to live and abide by the laws of Guam. So those here under a visiting visa, or through a treaty, must comply with rules and laws of the island and with the rules of the treaties or of the visa that allow their presence here,” Ngirairikl said.
“This administration has tried to work with federal officials and entities — as some of our senators have,” she said. “But we’ve not received clear answers on the how, or what to do. So the governor is taking action based on their inaction.”
Ngirairikl explained that in working with Corrections, Hauk’s record indicated he was a good candidate for deportation because his background included every deportable offense. He had no apparent source of support, didn’t attend school, was convicted of felony crimes and was a public charge.
Ngirairikl said Hauk originally took advantage of provisions in the Compact of Free Association, the treaty between the FSM and the United States that allows free travel to the island and elsewhere in the U.S. The compact also requires that persons migrating to Guam from the FSM, the Marshall Islands or Palau are able to migrate to the U.S. for employment, health or educational services.
According to the executive order, Hauk, then 24 years old, was initially arrested on an attempted murder charge in June 2011. Hauk entered a guilty plea in exchange for a lesser charge of aggravated assault and a felony special allegation of use of a deadly weapon. He was sentenced to 10 years with all but one year suspended for the assault charge, with an additional five-year sentence for the special allegation charge.
In February of 2015, Hauk was charged with several crimes while incarcerated, including promoting prison contraband and assault on a peace officer.
The executive order makes note that Hauk refused to participate in rehabilitative programs such as education programs while in Corrections. The order added that Hauk arrived in Guam and was not engaged in educational programs as called for in the COFA, nor did his record reflect the ability to be self-sustaining.
“Ninton Hauk is a deportable alien because he has violated and continues to be in violation of, the Amended Compact with the FSM, the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, and the DHS immigration regulations by virtue of being a public charge who cannot show that he has sufficient means of support in the United States, or Guam, and by failing to be self-supporting, for a period exceeding 60 consecutive days, and by engaging in felony criminal activity which endangers public safety or national security.”
