CNMI Congresswoman urges fix to 'untenable' mail delays
Photo:
AFP
Delegate Kimberly King-Hinds is calling for urgent reforms from the United States Postal Service to fix what she called "extreme delivery delays" in mail service to the Northern Mariana Islands.
In a formal letter sent last week to newly appointed postmaster, General David Steiner, King-Hinds congratulated him on his appointment but quickly turned attention to what she described as long-standing and worsening postal service issues affecting the Commonwealth.
It follows a wave of complaints from CNMI residents and businesses who say mail delays are increasingly untenable and disruptive to daily life.
"Mail from the mainland is routinely routed through the San Francisco Processing and Distribution Center and is placed on maritime transport, rather than airmail," the congresswoman wrote.
"This results in extreme delivery delays that interfere with access to vital services and materials - prescription medications, legal documents, and critical business supplies among them."
According to King-Hinds, residents and businesses in the CNMI have reported wait times of up to eight to 10 weeks for packages and standard mail originating from the continental US - a situation she said runs contrary to USPS' universal service obligation, which requires accessible and timely mail delivery to all US jurisdictions, including insular areas.
In her letter, King-Hinds posed a series of pointed questions to the USPS leadership, requesting transparency and data on:
"I stand ready to work collaboratively with USPS leadership to ensure all Americans, in any zip code, receive the timely, reliable service they deserve," King-Hinds said in a statement.
The congresswoman emphasized that she would continue to press for postal equity and fairness, noting that the current delays not only frustrate consumers but could amount to unequal treatment of US citizens based on geography.
King-Hinds had also
raised concern about the postal service
earlier this year.
The USPS has yet to publicly respond to the inquiry.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Trump's border czar defends decision to deploy hundreds of Marines to quell LA protests
By Donald Judd , CNN White House border czar Tom Homan. Photo: AFP/ANDREW HARNIK President Donald Trump's border czar Tom Homan argued on Monday that it was necessary to deploy hundreds of Marines to Los Angeles to quell immigration protests that are happening in the city - despite local officials saying it's unclear why they are there or what they are doing. "Yes, it all depends on the activities of these protesters - I mean, they make the decisions. I keep hearing reports that they're rioting because President Trump sent National Guard here, it's just ridiculous," Homan told CNN's Kaitlan Collins. "We don't know what's going to happen tonight - it seems like at night, the crowds get bigger, the violence peaks. So, we want to be ahead of the game. We'll be well prepared for the military here to protect government property and protect officers' lives," he said. Homan declined to say what standard the Trump administration was using to decide if mobilising the Marines would be necessary. "They're not reinforcing immigration law - we're doing that, we're immigration officers," Homan said. "Their job is protection of property and protection of our agents and their lives and their wellbeing, along with the public's wellbeing." Over the weekend, Trump became the first president in decades to call in the National Guard without a request from a governor - doing so without invoking the Insurrection Act, the 1807 law that allows the president to deploy American soldiers to police US streets in extreme circumstances. Trump ordered the Department of Defence to deploy an additional 2,000 California National Guard members to the Los Angeles area on Monday evening, according to the Pentagon. Protesters kneel in the street facing a row of police in riot gear during a protest in response to federal immigration operations in the Little Tokyo neighbourhood of downtown Los Angeles, on June 9, 2025. Photo: AFP/FREDERIC J. BROWN On Monday, the administration mobilised more than 700 Marines based out of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Centre in California to respond to the protests in Los Angeles. Homan said there were conversations "every day" within the administration about deploying military domestically, but he said he had not been personally involved in conversations about invoking the Insurrection Act, which would allow for the use active-duty military to quell protests. "No - again, I'm here running a Title 8 immigration operation, I was - I'm not involved in discussions, but I do know every day a conversation happens with the leadership of DOJ, DHS and DOD on a decision going forward," he said. "I think decisions on deployment of the National Guard and any other deployment of DOD is a decision being made by the White House, along with the Department of Justice, DOD - I know those calls are happening every day." But pressed if Americans should expect to see military deployed to other US cities where protests against ICE operations pop up, the border czar said, "I hope not." "I hope it's not the new normal - I hope people go out there and protest peacefully, but to attack law enforcement officers who are simply enforcing the laws that Congress enacted," he said. "So, if you want to hate, you want to protest, go to Congress and protest them. ICE is just doing their job." Homan also acknowledged that Democratic California governor Gavin Newsom has not done anything to warrant arrest after Trump said if he were Homan, he would have him arrested. "Governor Newsom has not done anything to warrant an arrest in your view right now, correct?" Collins asked. "Not at this time - absolutely not," he said. Homan told CNN that Immigration and Customs Enforcement would continue operations in Los Angeles - and across the country - to enforce immigration law. "They'll continue every day, not only in California, Los Angeles, they're gonna continue every city across the country - we have teams throughout the country that are out there looking for those in the country," Homan said. "We're in every city and country, and ICE is going to be out every single day and will continue to be there regardless what's happening in LA." - CNN
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
LA demonstrations roll on as political tensions ramp up
Street demonstrations in Los Angeles are rolling on as political tensions ramp up. The city's mayor has said LA is being used as a 'test case' for the federal government to take over from local and state authorities. Now more troops are on their way. About 700 marines have been mobilised and the Pentagon has said the US President is deploying another two thousand National Guard Troops to the area after the initial order this weekend. LA correspondent Toni Waterman spoke to Lisa Owen. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Australian PM Anthony Albanese calls shooting of journalist with rubber bullet in Los Angeles 'horrific'
By Georgie Hewson , ABC Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was shot in the leg with a rubber bullet while reporting on protests against US immigration enforcement in Los Angeles this week. Photo: Screengrab from 9News Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was shot in the leg with a rubber bullet while reporting on protests against US immigration enforcement in Los Angeles this week . Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he has spoken with the Channel Nine reporter. He has labelled the footage "horrific" and says the government has spoken with the US administration about the incident. He told the National Press Club he spoke with her this morning and she is going "OK". "But that footage was horrific," he said. "That was the footage of an Australian journalist doing what journalists do at their very best, at their very best, which is to go into an environment that' not comfortable, but where in LA, it is not unreasonable to think that she would not have been targeted with a rubber bullet. "It is not unreasonable to think that she could go about the coverage, clearly as people can see in the footage, clearly identified as media. "So we have already raised these issues with the US administration. "We don't find it acceptable that it occurred and we think that the role of the media is particularly important." Firing rubber bullets is just one of the crowd control tactics being used by authorities at the demonstrations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations. - ABC
