The U.S. purchased the Danish West Indies in 1916, ostensibly as a war measure designed to keep the Germans out of the Caribbean. Following the annexation of Cuba and Puerto Rico in 1898, the signing of the Panama Canal Treaty in 1903, and the occupation of Haiti and the Dominican Republic in 1915, the purchase was the finishing touch to the conversion of the Caribbean into "the American Mediterranean." These tiny Americanized islands-St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix-- have since become the urban magnet for the English-speaking Caribbean hinterland. The tourist playground now known as the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) was built by thousands of " temporary"'' Caribbean workers. Migrant workers and their families from all over the Eastern Caribbean-at first from the nearby British Virgin Islands, then from St. Kitts, Antigua, Nevis, Montserrat, Dominica and all the way down the Antilles chain-were brought in to build and service the airports, hotels, houses, and roads of St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix. Now there are some 20,000 "non-immigrant" West Indians trapped in a legal limbo which is known in the USVI as "The Alien Problem." Despised by the indigenous population and threatened with deportation, they are what is left of a model scheme for labor exploitation. This migration began in the early 1950s when the burgeoning construction industry consumed the small native labor force. So, the governor and local employers requested that the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) include domestics and unskilled laborers in a temporary labor program. The request was granted as an exemption to the immigration law. Recruitment was simple. West Indians, propelled by unemployment at home, arrived on visitors' permits and stayed on as certified construction workers, domestics, or hotel workers. By the mid-sixties, there were 14,500 such workers, an even greater number of dependents, plus several thousand "illegal" aliens. All tolled, they made up 45% of the local workforce. The population of the islands soared from around 30,000 in 1960 to 100,000 in 1977, with 60 % of the increase attributable to immigration. However, while the aliens were building tourist hotels, they were living in tropical hovels made of plywood and corrugated cardboard, 59% of which had no toilets, 87% no hot water, and 43% no water at all; they were sending their children to makeshift private schools; they were paying 30% of their wages in taxes and receiving no governmental services such as unemployment compensation, food stamps or welfare. Two-thirds of the men earned less than 38 $2/hour and three-fourths of the women less than $1.50/hour- this in an area where the cost of living runs 25% above stateside prices. Even according to a government spokesperson, the exploitation of these West Indians was "the modern version of slave labor." By 1969, the label of "temporary worker" was becoming less tenable. These workers renewed their certifications indefinitely and became de facto, if not de jure, permanent residents. Class action suits forced the local government to admit alien children into USVI public schools and alien families into public housing projects. But hostilities between local and alien West Indians smouldered and as the economy faltered, aliens were blamed for the deterioration of the schools, the ghettoization of the projects and the increase in crime. LOWERING THE BOOM Finally, the tourist boom collapsed. The long recession in the States and expression of black- power militancy on the islands spelled the end of economic growth. The local government, which had demanded the importation of West Indian labor, now moved to diminish the labor force. First, the Department of Labor ceased issuing new work certifications. Next, those already in the island labor market were allowed to stay only as long as they remained employed. After 60 days without work they could be deported, regardless of how long they had lived there. Then, in early 1971, Gov. Melvin Evans and Immigration agents began a massive round-up of "illegals." Those found without proper documentation were arrested, and their deportations hurried through the airport without the hearings required by INS regulations. When the round-up ceased in June 1971, 8,000 people had been sent packing. As a result, only 8,000 certified aliens remain. When dependents and "illegals" are added, there are still 20,000 aliens without permanent resident green cards. And they have virtually no hope of naturalization since INS has an immigration quota of only 600 British West Indians per year. The USVI alone could consume all such visas for the next 30 years. These thousands of West Indians continue to live in miserable conditions, are excluded from nearly all governmental services, and as non- citizens, they are denied the vote. The largest percentage of the alien labor force that remains works for transnationals such as Hess Oil and Martin-Marietta Alumina, the industrial giants on St. Croix. Other major employers are construction firms such as Island Construction and Riggers and Erectors who do contract jobs for Hess, Burns Security, the Public Works Department, and tourist hotels. For example, one hotel in the Holiday Inn chain hires 20% of its 300 workers among "temporary" aliens. LIMITED OPTIONS Disenfranchised, despised by the indigenous islanders, scattered among employers on three islands, and divided by inter- island rivalries, the aliens have few places to turn. Although the two dominant unions-the United Steelworkers (USW) and the Seafarers International Union (SIU)-have organized a minority of the alien workers, union officials admit to being unable to prevent deportations of their members. The alien protection groups such as the Concerned West Indian Movement (St. Croix) and the Alien Interest Movement (St. Thomas) are critical of the unions' passivity. For their part, they hold weekly "Immigration Counseling" meetings, have a radio program and otherwise restrict themselves to lobbying efforts with INS officials in Washington. The Legal Services of the USVI has expressed concern that the alien leaders (usually permanent resident aliens) are divided among themselves rather than unified. Legal Services has championed the alien cause with class-action suits and with running battles in Immigration Courts to obtain suspensions of deportation orders. The effect of Carter's amnesty proposal in the USVI is unclear, since it is directed toward "illegal" aliens, while the local problem is a mass of "temporary" aliens with ten to twenty- year residencies. The Concerned West Indian Movement favors Carter's plan since it feels that the plan will allow "temporaries" to register for permanent resident status. Local businessmen and politicians, on the other hand, fear the potential power this would give the "temporaries" considering their substantial representation in the general population. In any case, it is clear that unless all alien workers, be they "illegals" or "temporaries," are given the same rights as native workers, the manipulation of the INS laws to maintain an elastic workforce for America's "Caribbean Show- case," will remain intact. by David Borgen, who teaches local and world history in St. Thomas. Sources: extensive interviews with the British consul of St. Thomas, Legal Services attorneys, Concerned West Indian Movement, U.S. Dept. of Labor (Manpower Division, Office of Alien Certification), The Daily News (St. Thomas), Rape of the American Virgins, Edward O'Neill, The Rights of Aliens (ACLU Handbook) by David Carliner.
