Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The State of Security of the Territory includes the Administration’s concerns about its borders and addressing the needs of the Corrections population. Discussed in the 2024 State of the Territory’s Comprehensive Report, both concerns are showcased in terms of what the Administration is doing to improve perceived shortcomings.

For its border concerns, the Administration points to the work it did with the CI/ Travel Division and the Immigration Seaport Division — both part of the Immigration Office, which is under the umbrella of the Attorney General’s Office that is in turn part of the Legal Department.

To allow easier access to the public, the CI/ Travel Division was relocated from the third floor of the Executive Office Building (EOB), to the first floor of the EOB, next to the Department of Administrative Services office. According to the report, the office “has received positive feedback from the public that the new location is more convenient and provides extensive space for public service.”

There have been objections by visitors/ passengers off the Lady Samoa that their passports are being ‘confiscated’ while they are in port or on-island. In answer to this problem, a small office for the Immigration Seaport Division “was constructed at the Inter-Island Dock with internet and scanning machines to enable Lady Samoa passengers’ travel documents to be scanned during arrival instead of their travel documents being taken to the EOB Immigration Office to be picked up during the departure date.”

There is also a new vehicle “ assigned to the Immigration Office Investigations Unit to assist with enforcement efforts against overstayers and their sponsors and other matters.”

Listed too is the work the Legal Department did per Atoa o Samoa meetings’ outcomes, where starting on October 19, 2023, a waiver of the $10 7-day entry permit for Samoa citizens was implemented, which was reciprocated and for the first time in seventeen years Samoa’s entry permit requirement for U.S. nationals was removed. Samoa’s seven day permit waiver for U.S. nationals also costs $10.

Reported data as of November 20, 2023 for the local 7-day waiver of entry permit program shows that 97 Samoa citizens used the permit, and there were no overstayers as of November 20, 2023.

Other data show that as of “August 2023, at least 1355 guest workers from Samoa were working at StarKist Samoa (SKS),” with SKS requesting 500 additional workers before the end of 2023.

Noted is that “SKS has agreed to build a housing facility in 2024 for the GWs to reduce peace disturbances in villages throughout the territory, and to reduce absenteeism and tardiness, and provide a safe and secure living environment for the guest workers.”

Concerns from the Fono about the number of foreigners in the territory, despite caps on their numbers, were discussed in a hearing of the House Legal Affairs Committee, last week Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024.

Attorney General Fainuulelei Alailima Utu, who appeared before the committee, said there are no limits placed on the amount of foreigners who are allowed in under special provisions of Immigration law, but the AGO is working to change this by putting a cap on the amount.

A report handed out by the AG during the hearing shows around 1,900 foreigners working in the territory under the special provision. The AG himself reviews and approves the applications of those who would work for the ASG, while the Immigration Board handles those of the private sector.

Accordingly, listed in the report, the top five nationalities of the special provision workers are: Samoa- 598, Philippines- 574, Fiji- 270, China- 229 and Vietnam- 70.

The list also provided by the AG shows a total of 5,724 foreigners with P5 status as of 2023, comprising 4,107 from Samoa, 610 from the Philippines, 302 from Tonga, 300 from China, and 158 from Vietnam.

It has been often repeated by the public that the corrections or prison population is mostly composed of foreigners. However, in crime statistics for FY 2021 in the recently released Statistical Yearbook for the Territory, the data under the “Law Enforcement” section provides a breakdown of inmate citizenship as: over 50% of the inmates (for a total of 121 inmates) were US Nationals, 29% were Samoa citizens (64 inmates), 12% Tonga citizens and 9% others citizens.

It also lists the average monthly inmate population in FY2021 as 258 compared to a monthly average of 240 in FY2020.

The American Samoa Department of Corrections, which has been separated from the Department of Public Safety, just celebrated its one-year anniversary since its inception on Dec. 20 2022.

The 2024 TCR does not report on the number of inmates it is overseeing, only on the number of its personnel — which it says has grown from 57 to 104, comprising “the Director, Deputy Director, Administration, Counselors, Correctional Officers, and Cooks.

“Additional positions, including the Assistant Warden, Training Coordinator, Administrative Assistant, and fifty-five correctional officers…”

“Fifteen correctional officers are funded through the CJPA grant contributing to our mission of effectively supervising and rehabilitating detainees.”

Its first academy was held on Oct. 22, 2023, concluding with its first Commencement class in November 2023.

Grants for funding for rehabilitation programs are now in progress with substance abuse programs being prioritized.

“The RSAT (Residential Substance Abuse Treatment) program provides a counselor and has selected four inmates to treat in this program. The counselor will video-conference the inmates three to four times weekly to rehabilitate them.”

it is currently slated to received assistance in funding through the Criminal Justice Planning Agency of American Samoa which is “tasked with the sole responsibility to administer and monitor all criminal justice grant programs that are awarded to the territory of American Samoa from the United States Department of Justice.”

Another aspect of the Administration’s concerns for the security of the Territory was reported in the stats presented for the Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV), which comes under the DPS umbrella. The stats are in terms of the number of REAL ID Driver Licenses and Identification Cards, REAL ID cards and driver licenses issued by OMV: 1,007 REAL ID Driver Licenses, 4,252 non-REAL ID Driver Licenses, and 25 REAL ID Identification cards. In 2023, a total of 5,284 Driver Licenses and ID Cards were issued.

Local REAL ID Driver licenses require documented proof of US citizenship or national that includes valid passport, voting card, birth certificate, and issued social security card. The card serves as a valid ID off-island (supposedly).