#John Fitisemanu

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ACLU: “Nationals” but not “Citizens”: How the U.S. Denies Citizenship to American Samoans

“Nationals” but not “Citizens”: How the U.S. Denies Citizenship to American Samoans

With one glaring exception, all persons born in the United States or its territories are U.S. citizens. The exception are persons born in American Samoa — a U.S. territory since 1900 — who hold an obscure and discriminatory status as “non-citizen nationals.” In December, a Utah federal court rightly held that because American Samoa is a U.S. territory and part of the United States, the Constitution’s Citizenship Clause applies to persons born there just as it does to those born in the 50 states.     We recently filed an amicus brief supporting this ruling. Appearing before the 10th Circuit, we argue that American Samoans are constitutionally entitled to U.S. citizenship and should enjoy all of the rights and protections that citizenship entails. The case revolves around John Fitisemanu, who has lived in Utah for over two decades, but is ineligible to vote there because he was born in American Samoa. John is a husband, a father of three, and a health care worker. As a taxpaying Utah resident, John wished to work for the government, but kept hitting walls because of his status. John and his co-plaintiffs — other Utah residents born in American Samoa — filed the lawsuit to secure their right to citizenship and their right to vote in the November 2020 general election.   The intermediate “non-citizen national” status has denied thousands the right to vote in most elections held in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Among members of our nation, American Samoans truly stand alone: Persons born in other U.S. territories (for example, Puerto Rico) are citizens at birth and can vote in U.S., state, and local elections upon moving to one of the 50 states. And since American Samoans owe permanent allegiance to our country and were born in a territory under exclusive U.S. control for 120 years, it is difficult to see why laws that limit voting to citizens should automatically disenfranchise American Samoans.   Still, voting isn’t the only area where American Samoans are excluded from the core tenets of citizenship: Even if they reside in one of the 50 states, they may be denied the opportunity to run for office and represent their communities. In a recent example, Sai Timoteo — an American Samoan who ran in 2018 as a Hawaii state representative for the Republican Party — ended her run when she was disqualified by decades-old policies barring American Samoans from holding public office. These policies leave American Samoans on the outside looking in on our nation’s most revered democratic traditions.   The exclusion of American Samoans from these traditions, of course, means they aren’t represented in local, state, or federal government. But there is more: Persons born in American Samoa are denied the right to serve on juries, do not enjoy the same rights as U.S. citizens to petition for immigrant status on behalf of family members, and have to traverse a burdensome naturalization process if they wish to become U.S. citizens — again, notwithstanding the fact that they are born “Americans.”    Moreover, even the more mundane harms of “non-citizen national” status are onerous. For example, federal, state, and local laws often require U.S. citizenship as a condition for public employment. That requirement excludes American Samoans from employment as police officers, firefighters, paramedics, or public school teachers. They can’t be court reporters in Utah, optometrists in New Mexico, or funeral home directors in Oklahoma, to name a few of the professions into which they’re barred entry. Even getting a driver’s license can be an issue. These laws and policies gravely limit everyday life, liberties, and opportunities for American Samoans living in the mainland U.S. — a reality for over 100,000 people.   As we note in our brief, American Samoans also serve in the U.S. military at remarkably high rates. In 2007, for example, American Samoans died in Iraq and Afghanistan at a higher rate per capita than troops from anywhere else in the U.S. or its territories. “Those wartime losses [were] strikingly tangible on the island: In keeping with local custom, most [returned] to be buried in the front yard of their family home, their graves flanked by the flags of both the United States and American Samoa,” wrote the Chicago Tribune. Yet unnaturalized American Samoan servicemembers and veterans cannot vote for their commander in chief, serve in specialized services like the Special Forces, or rise to be officers in the military that they serve.   American Samoa has been part of the national fabric for more than a century. We should no longer deny persons born there the benefits and rights to which all people born on U.S. soil are entitled. Doing so only perpetuates systems that foster stigma and division in our communities. The 10th Circuit can and must affirm American Samoans’ right to citizenship. 

Published May 22, 2020 at 05:49PM via ACLU https://ift.tt/2AUbNw3 from Blogger https://ift.tt/3c26sQh via IFTTT

[nancydhooper]

“Nationals” but not “Citizens”: How the U.S. Denies Citizenship to American Samoans

With one glaring exception, all persons born in the United States or its territories are U.S. citizens. The exception are persons born in American Samoa — a U.S. territory since 1900 — who hold an obscure and discriminatory status as “non-citizen nationals.” In December, a Utah federal court rightly held that because American Samoa is a U.S. territory and part of the United States, the Constitution’s Citizenship Clause applies to persons born there just as it does to those born in the 50 states.     We recently filed an amicus brief supporting this ruling. Appearing before the 10th Circuit, we argue that American Samoans are constitutionally entitled to U.S. citizenship and should enjoy all of the rights and protections that citizenship entails. The case revolves around John Fitisemanu, who has lived in Utah for over two decades, but is ineligible to vote there because he was born in American Samoa. John is a husband, a father of three, and a health care worker. As a taxpaying Utah resident, John wished to work for the government, but kept hitting walls because of his status. John and his co-plaintiffs — other Utah residents born in American Samoa — filed the lawsuit to secure their right to citizenship and their right to vote in the November 2020 general election.   The intermediate “non-citizen national” status has denied thousands the right to vote in most elections held in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Among members of our nation, American Samoans truly stand alone: Persons born in other U.S. territories (for example, Puerto Rico) are citizens at birth and can vote in U.S., state, and local elections upon moving to one of the 50 states. And since American Samoans owe permanent allegiance to our country and were born in a territory under exclusive U.S. control for 120 years, it is difficult to see why laws that limit voting to citizens should automatically disenfranchise American Samoans.   Still, voting isn’t the only area where American Samoans are excluded from the core tenets of citizenship: Even if they reside in one of the 50 states, they may be denied the opportunity to run for office and represent their communities. In a recent example, Sai Timoteo — an American Samoan who ran in 2018 as a Hawaii state representative for the Republican Party — ended her run when she was disqualified by decades-old policies barring American Samoans from holding public office. These policies leave American Samoans on the outside looking in on our nation’s most revered democratic traditions.   The exclusion of American Samoans from these traditions, of course, means they aren’t represented in local, state, or federal government. But there is more: Persons born in American Samoa are denied the right to serve on juries, do not enjoy the same rights as U.S. citizens to petition for immigrant status on behalf of family members, and have to traverse a burdensome naturalization process if they wish to become U.S. citizens — again, notwithstanding the fact that they are born “Americans.”    Moreover, even the more mundane harms of “non-citizen national” status are onerous. For example, federal, state, and local laws often require U.S. citizenship as a condition for public employment. That requirement excludes American Samoans from employment as police officers, firefighters, paramedics, or public school teachers. They can’t be court reporters in Utah, optometrists in New Mexico, or funeral home directors in Oklahoma, to name a few of the professions into which they’re barred entry. Even getting a driver’s license can be an issue. These laws and policies gravely limit everyday life, liberties, and opportunities for American Samoans living in the mainland U.S. — a reality for over 100,000 people.   As we note in our brief, American Samoans also serve in the U.S. military at remarkably high rates. In 2007, for example, American Samoans died in Iraq and Afghanistan at a higher rate per capita than troops from anywhere else in the U.S. or its territories. “Those wartime losses [were] strikingly tangible on the island: In keeping with local custom, most [returned] to be buried in the front yard of their family home, their graves flanked by the flags of both the United States and American Samoa,” wrote the Chicago Tribune. Yet unnaturalized American Samoan servicemembers and veterans cannot vote for their commander in chief, serve in specialized services like the Special Forces, or rise to be officers in the military that they serve.   American Samoa has been part of the national fabric for more than a century. We should no longer deny persons born there the benefits and rights to which all persons born on U.S. soil are entitled. Doing so only perpetuates systems that foster stigma and division in our communities. The 10th Circuit can and must affirm American Samoans’ right to citizenship. 

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8247012 https://www.aclu.org/news/voting-rights/nationals-but-not-citizens-how-the-u-s-denies-citizenship-to-american-samoans via http://www.rssmix.com/

[itsfinancethings]

(SALT LAKE CITY) — People born in the territory of American Samoa should be recognized as U.S. citizens, a federal judge in Utah decided Thursday in a case filed amid more than a century of legal limbo but whose eventual impact remains to be seen.

The cluster of Pacific islands southwest of Hawaii is the only place in the country without an automatic claim to citizenship. People born there are labeled U.S. nationals, meaning they pay taxes but cannot vote, run for office or apply for certain government jobs.

U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups sided with three people from American Samoa who sued to be recognized as citizens. He ruled that the Utah residents are entitled to birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and ordered the government to issue them new passports.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the ruling applies outside Utah, which has a large number of people who hail from the territory and other Pacific island communities.

Congress has allowed people born in other American territories like Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands to claim birthright citizenship over the years.

But American Samoa’s population of about 55,000 has fallen to the wayside. Their passports say, “This bearer is a United States national and not a United States citizen.”

The State Department did not have immediate comment on the ruling.

It’s expected to be appealed, said the plaintiffs’ attorney, Charles V. Ala’ilima.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the issue in 2016, after a lower court found the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship didn’t apply to American Samoa.

If the new, conflicting ruling out of Utah is affirmed by an appeals court, it could create a “circuit split” and put pressure on the high court to step in.

The ruling shows that while birthright citizenship has had some controversy at the national level, it’s “one of the bedrock, foundational rights that our country was built on,”said Neil Weare, president of Equally American and one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs.

“The takeaway from the ruling is that people born in American Samoa living in Utah are now U.S. citizens, and they have all the same rights as other Americans, including the right to vote,” Weare said. “These individuals can now go and register to vote and participate in state, federal and local elections.”

John Fitisemanu sued after being rejected for jobs that list U.S. citizenship as a requirement. He said he’s “ecstatic” about the ruling and plans to register to vote as soon as possible.

The Southern Utah Pacific Islander Coalition plans to register people to vote from the community whose connections to the state date to the late 1800s, when missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint took the faith’s message to the Pacific, co-founder Susi Lafaele said.

American Samoans are able to pursue naturalized U.S. citizenship, but it costs $725 to apply, plus legal fees to hire an attorney to help navigate the process.

The American Samoan government, meanwhile, has argued that automatic U.S. citizenship could undermine local traditions and practices, including certain rules that restrict land ownership only to those of Samoan ancestry.

Acting Attorney General Alexandra Zirschky said Thursday that the office is still reviewing the ruling.

[myattorneyusa]

New Citizenship Clause Case Involving American Samoa

On March 27, 2018, the Associated Press published an interesting report on a new lawsuit involving birthright citizenship.[1]

A group of plaintiffs led by John Fitisemanu, an American Samoan noncitizen national of the United States residing in Utah, filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of Utah arguing that American Samoans living in Utah derived citizenship at birth through the citizenship clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution [see article]. The AP reported that Sam Erman, a law professor from the University of Southern California who plans to file suit in support of the plaintiffs, is taking the position that a victory for the plaintiffs would call into question whether individuals who lived in the Philippines when it was a U.S. territory prior to 1946 would be eligible to seek citizenship. Individuals in the Philippines were noncitizen nationals of the United States prior to the Philippines' gaining of independence in 1946.

However, as the article notes, a similar suit failed in 2015. In Tuaua v. U.S., 788 F.3d 300 (D.C. Cir. 2015) [PDF version], the United States District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit, relying on Supreme Court of the United States precedent from the “Insular Cases,” held that the Citizenship Clause does not guarantee birthright citizenship to individuals born in American Samoa. The Supreme Court subsequently declined to hear the case on appeal, denying certiorari in Tuaua v. U.S., 136 S.Ct. 2461 (2016) [PDF version].

Nearly all noncitizen nationals today are those individuals who were born in American Samoa, although in certain cases, an individual born in American Samoa but with one or two U.S. citizen parents may derive citizenship at birth instead of nationality without citizenship [see article]. There is no way for a foreign national to obtain U.S. nationality without U.S. citizenship under current laws, meaning that the only way in which one may acquire noncitizen nationality is through birth. On site, we have a detailed overview of noncitizen nationality and how it is distinguishable from both U.S. citizenship and those who are neither citizens nor nationals of the United States [see article]. Please also see our article on immigration issues involving noncitizen nationals, with an emphasis on the rules for naturalization [see article]. Regarding the Citizenship Clause, we have a full article on how the Clause operates and who is a U.S. citizen based on birth in the United States.

Before concluding, it is worth noting that the AP article contains one important error regarding the status of noncitizen nationals. Namely, the article incorrectly states that noncitizen nationals “cannot … sponsor family members for immigration to the U.S….” To learn more, please see our full article on relevant Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) precedent on petitioning for noncitizen nationals [see article]. Furthermore, it is worth noting that in most cases, noncitizen nationals are not subject to employment restrictions, owing to the fact that they are not considered to be aliens covered by the Immigration and Nationality Act. In fact, a foreign national can face serious immigration charges for falsely representing him or herself as a noncitizen national for employment verification purposes [see section].

A noncitizen national with questions about employment eligibility, petitioning for relatives or naturalization may consult with an experienced immigration attorney for case-specific guidance.

We will follow the litigation in this case and any similar cases that may arise as it develops. Regardless of the result, the issues present interesting questions about the citizenship and nationality laws of the United States.

Please visit the nyc immigration lawyers website for further information. The Law Offices of Grinberg & Segal, PLLC focuses vast segment of its practice on immigration law. This steadfast dedication has resulted in thousands of immigrants throughout the United States.

Yan, Sophia. “APNewsBreak: American Samoans sue for birthright citizenship.” The Associated Press. Mar. 27, 2018. https://www.apnews.com/5a3daf6d1aac4f89b26afad3cdf007b4

Lawyer website: http://myattorneyusa.com

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Residents of US territory American Samoa sue for citizenship

Residents of US territory American Samoa sue for citizenship

John Fitisemanu, who works for a lab firm in Utah, has paid U.S. taxes and been topic to American legal guidelines his entire life. But the 53-year-old father and husband is not thought-about a U.S. citizen by the federal authorities as a result of he was born in American Samoa, a U.S. territory and the one place within the nation with out computerized declare to citizenship. Now, he is suing to…

[investmart007]

Residents of US territory American Samoa sue for citizenship

New Post has been published on https://goo.gl/cHFA42

Residents of US territory American Samoa sue for citizenship

HONOLULU  /March 27, 2018 (AP)(STL.News) — John Fitisemanu, who works for a lab company in Utah, has paid U.S. taxes and been subject to American laws his whole life. But the 53-year-old father and husband isn’t considered a U.S. citizen by the federal government because he was born in American Samoa, a U.S. territory and the only place in the country without automatic claim to citizenship. Now, he’s suing to be recognized as an American.

Fitisemanu is the lead plaintiff on a lawsuit filed Tuesday on behalf of American Samoans in Utah to be treated as U.S. citizens under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. The Associated Press obtained the documents before the case was filed.

American Samoa, a U.S. territory since 1900, is a cluster of islands 2,600 miles (4,184 kilometers) southwest of Hawaii perpetually stuck in a legal loophole. People born in the territory are labeled U.S. nationals. Under that status, they cannot vote, run for office, sponsor family members for immigration to the U.S., apply for certain government jobs, or serve on a jury — despite paying taxes to Uncle Sam. They’re even issued special U.S. passports that say: “This bearer is a United States national and not a United States citizen.”

With colleagues, “it’s kind of like an office joke — ‘Hey! John is not a citizen, he’s an alien!’ I know they’re joking, but it still hurts,” Fitisemanu told the AP. “It feels like a slap in your face, that you’re born on U.S. soil, but you’re not recognized as a U.S. citizen.”

He’s been rejected for jobs that list U.S. citizenship as a requirement. Prospective employers “need me to show them proof that I am a U.S. citizen, which I am not.” Around elections, “I sit quietly at my cubicle, and don’t say a word, because I know I can’t vote,” he said. “It’s kind of embarrassing.”

Rosavita Tuli, another plaintiff in the case, has had to obtain special permits and pay fees that wouldn’t apply to U.S. citizens when visiting her aging parents outside American Samoa, according to court documents.

Although American Samoans can pursue naturalized citizenship, the lawsuit says it is a “lengthy, costly, and burdensome” process. The cost to apply is $725, and legal fees pile up if applicants hire an attorney to help navigate the process. For Fitisemanu, a previous divorce and other financial burdens have prevented him from going that route.

Also, “there’s no guarantee of success,” said Neil Weare, the attorney leading the suit, and president of non-profit Equally American. “If someone has a birth certificate showing they were born on U.S. soil, they shouldn’t have to jump through any more hoops to be recognized as a U.S. citizen.”

Those born in the territory, however, can claim citizenship at birth if one of their parents is a U.S. citizen. The same generally holds true for children born abroad to Americans.

This is Weare’s second attempt on the issue. A previous case he led stalled in 2016 when the Supreme Court declined to reconsider a ruling from a lower court in D.C., which found the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship didn’t apply to American Samoa, and referred back to controversial colonial era decisions from the early 20th century after the U.S. acquired a spate of territories in the Spanish American War.

Known as the “Insular Cases,” the Supreme Court distinguished between “incorporated” and “unincorporated” territories. The former, such as Arizona and New Mexico, mostly settled by white people, were thought destined to be a permanent part of the U.S. The latter, such as American Samoa, weren’t considered candidates for statehood, whose inhabitants were described as “alien races” and “uncivilized,” and thus weren’t granted full constitutional rights.

Over the years, Congress has decided on a per territory basis to allow those born in Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands to claim citizenship by birth. American Samoa’s population of about 55,000, however, has continued to fall to the wayside.

“This is the holding pattern we’ve been in now for over a century,” said Sam Erman, an expert in constitutional law and a professor at the University of Southern California. Still, Erman and many legal scholars agree that “American Samoans are clearly citizens under the 14th Amendment.”

This lawsuit places a question mark over whether the millions that lived in the Philippines while the country was a U.S. territory for five decades until 1946 would also be able to seek U.S. citizenship, said Erman, who plans to file a legal brief on the current lawsuit.

The local American Samoan government has before taken a nuanced view over the issue, given concern about how aspects of Samoan life and culture “would be jeopardized if subjected to scrutiny under the 14th Amendment,” according to court documents filed in 2014 by lawyers representing the government. American Samoa Governor Lolo Moliga didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. State Department, named as the defendants on the lawsuit, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Utah has a major Samoan population. If the case there is decided favorably, that would create a “circuit split” — a conflicting ruling to what was previously decided in another court, which could add pressure to the Supreme Court to review.

Until then, Fitisemanu is standing firm: “People will say what they want to say, and I’m going to believe in what I want to believe, and I believe that I should be a U.S. citizen.”

___

By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (A.S)

__

[lodelss]

ACLU: “Nationals” but not “Citizens”: How the U.S. Denies Citizenship to American Samoans

“Nationals” but not “Citizens”: How the U.S. Denies Citizenship to American Samoans

With one glaring exception, all persons born in the United States or its territories are U.S. citizens. The exception are persons born in American Samoa — a U.S. territory since 1900 — who hold an obscure and discriminatory status as “non-citizen nationals.” In December, a Utah federal court rightly held that because American Samoa is a U.S. territory and part of the United States, the Constitution’s Citizenship Clause applies to persons born there just as it does to those born in the 50 states.     We recently filed an amicus brief supporting this ruling. Appearing before the 10th Circuit, we argue that American Samoans are constitutionally entitled to U.S. citizenship and should enjoy all of the rights and protections that citizenship entails. The case revolves around John Fitisemanu, who has lived in Utah for over two decades, but is ineligible to vote there because he was born in American Samoa. John is a husband, a father of three, and a health care worker. As a taxpaying Utah resident, John wished to work for the government, but kept hitting walls because of his status. John and his co-plaintiffs — other Utah residents born in American Samoa — filed the lawsuit to secure their right to citizenship and their right to vote in the November 2020 general election.   The intermediate “non-citizen national” status has denied thousands the right to vote in most elections held in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Among members of our nation, American Samoans truly stand alone: Persons born in other U.S. territories (for example, Puerto Rico) are citizens at birth and can vote in U.S., state, and local elections upon moving to one of the 50 states. And since American Samoans owe permanent allegiance to our country and were born in a territory under exclusive U.S. control for 120 years, it is difficult to see why laws that limit voting to citizens should automatically disenfranchise American Samoans.   Still, voting isn’t the only area where American Samoans are excluded from the core tenets of citizenship: Even if they reside in one of the 50 states, they may be denied the opportunity to run for office and represent their communities. In a recent example, Sai Timoteo — an American Samoan who ran in 2018 as a Hawaii state representative for the Republican Party — ended her run when she was disqualified by decades-old policies barring American Samoans from holding public office. These policies leave American Samoans on the outside looking in on our nation’s most revered democratic traditions.   The exclusion of American Samoans from these traditions, of course, means they aren’t represented in local, state, or federal government. But there is more: Persons born in American Samoa are denied the right to serve on juries, do not enjoy the same rights as U.S. citizens to petition for immigrant status on behalf of family members, and have to traverse a burdensome naturalization process if they wish to become U.S. citizens — again, notwithstanding the fact that they are born “Americans.”    Moreover, even the more mundane harms of “non-citizen national” status are onerous. For example, federal, state, and local laws often require U.S. citizenship as a condition for public employment. That requirement excludes American Samoans from employment as police officers, firefighters, paramedics, or public school teachers. They can’t be court reporters in Utah, optometrists in New Mexico, or funeral home directors in Oklahoma, to name a few of the professions into which they’re barred entry. Even getting a driver’s license can be an issue. These laws and policies gravely limit everyday life, liberties, and opportunities for American Samoans living in the mainland U.S. — a reality for over 100,000 people.   As we note in our brief, American Samoans also serve in the U.S. military at remarkably high rates. In 2007, for example, American Samoans died in Iraq and Afghanistan at a higher rate per capita than troops from anywhere else in the U.S. or its territories. “Those wartime losses [were] strikingly tangible on the island: In keeping with local custom, most [returned] to be buried in the front yard of their family home, their graves flanked by the flags of both the United States and American Samoa,” wrote the Chicago Tribune. Yet unnaturalized American Samoan servicemembers and veterans cannot vote for their commander in chief, serve in specialized services like the Special Forces, or rise to be officers in the military that they serve.   American Samoa has been part of the national fabric for more than a century. We should no longer deny persons born there the benefits and rights to which all persons born on U.S. soil are entitled. Doing so only perpetuates systems that foster stigma and division in our communities. The 10th Circuit can and must affirm American Samoans’ right to citizenship. 

Published May 22, 2020 at 10:19PM via ACLU https://ift.tt/2AUbNw3 from Blogger https://ift.tt/2TvTkwb via IFTTT

[lodelss]

ACLU: “Nationals” but not “Citizens”: How the U.S. Denies Citizenship to American Samoans

“Nationals” but not “Citizens”: How the U.S. Denies Citizenship to American Samoans

With one glaring exception, all persons born in the United States or its territories are U.S. citizens. The exception are persons born in American Samoa — a U.S. territory since 1900 — who hold an obscure and discriminatory status as “non-citizen nationals.” In December, a Utah federal court rightly held that because American Samoa is a U.S. territory and part of the United States, the Constitution’s Citizenship Clause applies to persons born there just as it does to those born in the 50 states.     We recently filed an amicus brief supporting this ruling. Appearing before the 10th Circuit, we argue that American Samoans are constitutionally entitled to U.S. citizenship and should enjoy all of the rights and protections that citizenship entails. The case revolves around John Fitisemanu, who has lived in Utah for over two decades, but is ineligible to vote there because he was born in American Samoa. John is a husband, a father of three, and a health care worker. As a taxpaying Utah resident, John wished to work for the government, but kept hitting walls because of his status. John and his co-plaintiffs — other Utah residents born in American Samoa — filed the lawsuit to secure their right to citizenship and their right to vote in the November 2020 general election.   The intermediate “non-citizen national” status has denied thousands the right to vote in most elections held in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Among members of our nation, American Samoans truly stand alone: Persons born in other U.S. territories (for example, Puerto Rico) are citizens at birth and can vote in U.S., state, and local elections upon moving to one of the 50 states. And since American Samoans owe permanent allegiance to our country and were born in a territory under exclusive U.S. control for 120 years, it is difficult to see why laws that limit voting to citizens should automatically disenfranchise American Samoans.   Still, voting isn’t the only area where American Samoans are excluded from the core tenets of citizenship: Even if they reside in one of the 50 states, they may be denied the opportunity to run for office and represent their communities. In a recent example, Sai Timoteo — an American Samoan who ran in 2018 as a Hawaii state representative for the Republican Party — ended her run when she was disqualified by decades-old policies barring American Samoans from holding public office. These policies leave American Samoans on the outside looking in on our nation’s most revered democratic traditions.   The exclusion of American Samoans from these traditions, of course, means they aren’t represented in local, state, or federal government. But there is more: Persons born in American Samoa are denied the right to serve on juries, do not enjoy the same rights as U.S. citizens to petition for immigrant status on behalf of family members, and have to traverse a burdensome naturalization process if they wish to become U.S. citizens — again, notwithstanding the fact that they are born “Americans.”    Moreover, even the more mundane harms of “non-citizen national” status are onerous. For example, federal, state, and local laws often require U.S. citizenship as a condition for public employment. That requirement excludes American Samoans from employment as police officers, firefighters, paramedics, or public school teachers. They can’t be court reporters in Utah, optometrists in New Mexico, or funeral home directors in Oklahoma, to name a few of the professions into which they’re barred entry. Even getting a driver’s license can be an issue. These laws and policies gravely limit everyday life, liberties, and opportunities for American Samoans living in the mainland U.S. — a reality for over 100,000 people.   As we note in our brief, American Samoans also serve in the U.S. military at remarkably high rates. In 2007, for example, American Samoans died in Iraq and Afghanistan at a higher rate per capita than troops from anywhere else in the U.S. or its territories. “Those wartime losses [were] strikingly tangible on the island: In keeping with local custom, most [returned] to be buried in the front yard of their family home, their graves flanked by the flags of both the United States and American Samoa,” wrote the Chicago Tribune. Yet unnaturalized American Samoan servicemembers and veterans cannot vote for their commander in chief, serve in specialized services like the Special Forces, or rise to be officers in the military that they serve.   American Samoa has been part of the national fabric for more than a century. We should no longer deny persons born there the benefits and rights to which all persons born on U.S. soil are entitled. Doing so only perpetuates systems that foster stigma and division in our communities. The 10th Circuit can and must affirm American Samoans’ right to citizenship. 

Published May 22, 2020 at 05:49PM via ACLU https://ift.tt/2zYWS35 from Blogger https://ift.tt/2LWNIqp via IFTTT

[itsfinancethings]

December 12, 2019 at 09:17PM

(SALT LAKE CITY) — People born in the territory of American Samoa should be recognized as U.S. citizens, a federal judge in Utah decided Thursday in a case filed amid more than a century of legal limbo but whose eventual impact remains to be seen.

The cluster of Pacific islands southwest of Hawaii is the only place in the country without an automatic claim to citizenship. People born there are labeled U.S. nationals, meaning they pay taxes but cannot vote, run for office or apply for certain government jobs.

U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups sided with three people from American Samoa who sued to be recognized as citizens. He ruled that the Utah residents are entitled to birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and ordered the government to issue them new passports.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the ruling applies outside Utah, which has a large number of people who hail from the territory and other Pacific island communities.

Congress has allowed people born in other American territories like Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands to claim birthright citizenship over the years.

But American Samoa’s population of about 55,000 has fallen to the wayside. Their passports say, “This bearer is a United States national and not a United States citizen.”

The State Department did not have immediate comment on the ruling.

It’s expected to be appealed, said the plaintiffs’ attorney, Charles V. Ala’ilima.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the issue in 2016, after a lower court found the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship didn’t apply to American Samoa.

If the new, conflicting ruling out of Utah is affirmed by an appeals court, it could create a “circuit split” and put pressure on the high court to step in.

The ruling shows that while birthright citizenship has had some controversy at the national level, it’s “one of the bedrock, foundational rights that our country was built on,”said Neil Weare, president of Equally American and one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs.

“The takeaway from the ruling is that people born in American Samoa living in Utah are now U.S. citizens, and they have all the same rights as other Americans, including the right to vote,” Weare said. “These individuals can now go and register to vote and participate in state, federal and local elections.”

John Fitisemanu sued after being rejected for jobs that list U.S. citizenship as a requirement. He said he’s “ecstatic” about the ruling and plans to register to vote as soon as possible.

The Southern Utah Pacific Islander Coalition plans to register people to vote from the community whose connections to the state date to the late 1800s, when missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint took the faith’s message to the Pacific, co-founder Susi Lafaele said.

American Samoans are able to pursue naturalized U.S. citizenship, but it costs $725 to apply, plus legal fees to hire an attorney to help navigate the process.

The American Samoan government, meanwhile, has argued that automatic U.S. citizenship could undermine local traditions and practices, including certain rules that restrict land ownership only to those of Samoan ancestry.

Acting Attorney General Alexandra Zirschky said Thursday that the office is still reviewing the ruling.

[investmart007]

APNewsBreak: American Samoans sue for birthright citizenship

New Post has been published on https://goo.gl/hEj3PR

APNewsBreak: American Samoans sue for birthright citizenship

HONOLULU /March 27, 2018 (AP)(STL.News) —Meet John Fitisemanu, who works for a lab company in Utah, and has paid U.S. taxes and been subject to American laws his whole life. But the 53-year-old father and husband isn’t considered a U.S. citizen by the federal government, because he was born in American Samoa, a U.S. territory and the only place in the country without automatic claim to citizenship. Now, he’s suing to be recognized as an American.

Fitisemanu is the lead plaintiff on a lawsuit filed Tuesday on behalf of American Samoans in Utah to be treated as U.S. citizens under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. The Associated Press obtained the documents before the case was filed.

People born in American Samoa, a U.S. territory since 1900, are instead considered U.S. nationals. Under that status, they cannot vote, run for office, sponsor family members for immigration to the U.S., or serve on a jury — despite paying taxes to Uncle Sam. They’re even issued special U.S. passports that say: “This bearer is a United States national and not a United States citizen.”

With colleagues, “it’s kind of like an office joke — ‘Hey! John is not a citizen, he’s an alien!’ I know they’re joking, but it still hurts,” Fitisemanu told the AP. “It feels like a slap in your face, that you’re born on U.S. soil, but you’re not recognized as a U.S. citizen.”

He’s even been rejected for jobs that list U.S. citizenship as a requirement. Prospective employers “need me to show them proof that I am a U.S. citizen, which I am not.”

Rosavita Tuli, another plaintiff in the case, has had to obtain special permits and pay fees that wouldn’t apply to U.S. citizens when visiting her aging parents outside American Samoa, according to court documents.

Although American Samoans can pursue naturalized citizenship, the lawsuit says it is a “lengthy, costly, and burdensome” process. The cost to apply is $725, and legal fees pile up if applicants hire an attorney to help navigate the process.

For Fitisemanu, a previous divorce and other financial burdens have prevented him from going that route. “I don’t know why we need to go through a process to be recognized as U.S. citizens when you are born in American Samoa — hence the name ‘American’ in front of the word, ‘Samoa,'” he said.

Those born in the territory, however, can claim citizenship at birth if one of their parents is a U.S. citizen. The same generally holds true for children born abroad to Americans.

This is Weare’s second attempt on the issue. A previous case he led stalled in 2016 when the Supreme Court declined to reconsider a ruling from a lower court in D.C., which found the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship didn’t apply to American Samoa, and referred back to controversial colonial era decisions from the early 20th century after the U.S. acquired a spate of territories in the Spanish American War.

Known as the “Insular Cases,” the Supreme Court distinguished between “incorporated” and “unincorporated” territories. The former, such as Arizona and New Mexico, mostly settled by white people, were thought destined to be a permanent part of the U.S. The latter, such as American Samoa, weren’t considered candidates for statehood, whose inhabitants were described as “alien races” and “uncivilized,” and thus weren’t granted full constitutional rights.

Over the years, Congress has decided on a per territory basis whether those born in Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands can claim citizenship by birth. American Samoa, however, has continued to fall to the wayside.

“This is the holding pattern we’ve been in now for over a century,” said Sam Erman, an expert in constitutional law and a professor at the University of Southern California. Still, he thinks “American Samoans are clearly citizens under the 14th Amendment.”

If the courts decide favorably, a question mark hangs over whether the millions that lived in the Philippines while the country was a U.S. territory for five decades until 1946 would also be able to seek U.S. citizenship. “That haunts the case,” said Erman, who plans to file a legal brief on the current lawsuit.

The local American Samoan government has before taken a nuanced view over the issue, given concern about how various aspects to Samoan life and culture “would be jeopardized if subjected to scrutiny under the 14th Amendment,” according to court documents filed in 2014 by lawyers representing the government. American Samoa Governor Lolo Moliga didn’t respond to a request for comment.  The U.S. State Department, named as the defendents on the lawsuit, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

American Samoa consists of seven South Pacific islands located 2,600 miles (4,184 kilometers) southwest of Hawaii. The islands are home to about 55,000 residents, most of which live in or near the capital of Pago Pago.

Utah has a major Samoan population, and if the case there is decided favorably, this would create a “circuit split,” or a conflicting ruling to what was previously decided, which could add pressure to the federal government to review. “The odds of getting up to the Supreme Court go way up,” Erman said.

Until then, Fitisemanu is standing firm: “People will say what they want to say, and I’m going to believe in what I want to believe, and I believe that I should be a U.S. citizen.”

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By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (A.S)

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