Guam Attorney General Leevin Camacho was invited to speak to the Mayors Council of Guam today on the issue of crime and the FSM migrant community.
Yigo Mayor Rudy Mantanane was blunt in his assessment of the problem. Too few FSM migrants have jobs, he said.
“You come to the United States for education, opportunity, and jobs. And half of them don’t have jobs. And that’s one of the reasons why they do the things that they do,” Matanane said.
He added: “You know, if a person gets into trouble two times and it says they are supposed to get a job or go to school, why can’t we work something where they automatically go home?”
AG Camacho responded: “I don’t know the answer to that. Our office is not involved in the screening process for incoming migration.”
Mongmong-Toto-Maite Mayor Rudy Paco expressed concern about the release of suspects, local and FSM suspects, who have been arrested on felony charges.
“This is what I’m trying to say. GPD would ask us to form a neighborhood watch. We form a neighborhood watch; we do our job as a neighborhood watch. But the catch and release is something we don’t understand. We want to understand catch and release. What’s the use of having a neighborhood watch?” Paco said.
He added: “It’s not only FSM people. No. No. These are local boys. We’re here to talk about specifically, FSM. No. No. I’m not being biased here. FSM, local. Catch and release is either or, is local or FSM. ”
The AG responded: “I’m open to criticism of my office when it’s warranted. But I see so many times we get blamed when the court decides to release somebody, and we’ve opposed it. I understand the anger, I understand the frustration. I know there is a lot of crime in the villages. But to put it on one agency that’s one member of the criminal justice system I think, we need to understand the picture before us. We are interested in making sure our communities are safe.”
Camacho assured the mayors that it is the policy of his office to seek confinement for every suspect arrested on a felony allegation.
“Everyone who is a felony is going to be booked and confined,” he said.
##
