The problems you hint at involve the former UN Trust Territories of the Mariana Islands. Due to how the Mariana Islands came under US Control, means two set of laws applies depending if we are referring to Guam or the other Mariana Islands. In 2007 the US Congress passed a law slowly equalizing the Minimum Wage in the Mariana Islands to be equal to US Minimum Wage (Prior to 2007 US Minimum wage only applied to Guam).
AS to the Mariana Island NORTH of Guam, these islands had been German possessions before WWI, then Japanese possessions, then the US obtained them from the UN as part of the Settlement of WWII. Technically they were NEVER part of the US, for all practical purposes they were.
Now, it was understood that the US only had them in Trust till such times as these territories would become independent. Starting in the 1980s the US started to make arrangements where these territories became independent, but they then turned they foreign policy over to the US. i.e. they are "Independent" but then the are not).
The main reason for this is what to do with these coral reefs and small volcanic islands? By far the largest island is Guam, and it was NOT part of the UN Trust Territory. Thus it was decided to set up the rest of the Mariana as
For example, lets look at the Mariana Island Group, consisting of the Guam which is the largest island in the Mariana Island Group and the rest of the Mariana Island group:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariana_Islands
Spain had all of them prior to 1898, but the US took Guam in the year (during the Spanish-American war), and Spain sold the rest to Germany in 1899. Japan took them over during WWI and this was recognized by the Treaty of Versailles that ended WWI.
The US took over the rest of the Mariana Island during WWII and became a UN trust territory of the US after WWII. On the other hand Guam had always been US territory (even when occupied by Japan during WWII).
Thus Guam comes under a different set of Laws then the smaller islands, but at the same time period it is the biggest island in the island group and natives move easily between the islands as they have for the last 2000 years.
Thus US law is different between these two territories (Technically each is a separate US "Unincorporated" "Organized" Territory, "Unincorporated" in that it is NOT considered a permanent part of the US, NOT "incorporated" with the 50 states, but it has some sort of Legal Organization imposed on it by Congress).
Thus Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are Territories of the US, but come under different laws due to difference in how the US obtain jurisdiction over them.
Side note:
The other former UN Trust territories did not opt to became a US territory, through they also went from Spanish to German to Japanese then American rules as did the Northern Marianas These trust territories, the Former UN Trust Territories of the Carolina and Marshall Islands are now three "Independent" Republics, but whose foreign policy is governed by the US:
The Federated States of Micronesia: (Carolina Islands except for Palau):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federated_States_of_Micronesia
The Republic of Palau:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palau
The Republic of the Marshall Islands:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Islands
Side Note: While Spain claimed the Marshall islands, they never actually ruled them, unlike the Carolina and Mariana islands. Thus Spain gave whatever rights they had to the Marshall Islands to Germany in 1884. Germany had to wait till 1899 to get the Mariana and Carolina islands. This was due to Bismark's attitude to Colonies. Unlike other European leaders, Bismark wanted no part of the "Race for Colonies" that was characteristic of Europe in the late 1800s. Bismark did take over some colonies to keep those Germans who demanded Germany be like Britain and have they "Face in the Sun", but Bismark wanted to avoid any Colony that may lead to bad relations with any other Power. Thus Bismark had no problem taking over the Marshalls, which no one really wanted. On the other hand once Kaiser Wilhelm II dismissed Bismark in the early 1890s, Kaiser Wilhelm II went "Shopping" for colonies and that explains the German purchase of the Marianas and Carolinas from Spain in 1899.
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