Along with its veracity, the conduct of the department's investigation is also under fire. The department's investigating team says it conducted 400 interviews in Northern Marianas in January and February as the basis of the report. During the Senate hearings, however, department officials said they were not prepared to turn over the report to the Senate committee, even though a draft version was shown prior to the hearings to The Washington Post and ABC News. Justice Department and Customs Service officials, which have jurisdiction over such investigations, asked that the outside report not be presented because they considered it unverifiable. An open-door guestworker program supplies labor from China, Bangladesh, and the Philippines to garment manufacturers who relocated there in the 1980s.
Most workers come only for a few years and live in company dormitories.
Since 1980, per capita income has increased threefold. More than 30 factories on Saipan produce clothing for designer labels Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren, and Tommy Hilfiger. They also make apparel for The Gap stores, JCPenney, and others. According to the Journal of Commerce, Saipan sweatshops fill nearly 100 40-foot containers a week. These are fed to U.S.-flag ships in nearby Guam or Taiwan, then are shipped to the United States.