Supreme Court decision leaves both sides in limbo, Ala’ilima asserts

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The U.S Supreme Court “has yet again left unresolved the question of whether people born in American Samoa are U.S. citizens, which is a disservice both to those who want recognition of a right to citizenship and those who oppose it,” declared American Samoa based attorney Charles V. Ala’ilima, a co-counsel in the federal Fitisemanu citizenship case.

“I continue to stand in agreement with what our traditional leaders knew to be true: that when our people transferred sovereignty to the United States they had a right to be recognized as full and equal citizens," said Ala’lima in a statement released by the U.S based Equally American, which advocates for equality and civil rights in U.S. territories.

As reported by Samoa News yesterday, the Supreme Court on Monday denied a request by three individuals born in American Samoa and residing in Utah, to review a decision by the majority of the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that citizenship birth on U.S. soil is not applicable to those born in American Samoa.

The Supreme Court’s decision also denied the plaintiffs’ request to overturn the Insular Cases, which are a series of opinions by the U.S. Supreme Court issued in 1901, about the status of U.S. territories acquired in the Spanish-American War, and the periods shortly thereafter, in which the court ruled that full constitutional rights did not automatically extend to all areas under American control.

Ala’ilima said the Supreme Court’s “inaction also leaves unresolved whether the Insular Cases remain good law. This creates uncertainty around whether and how the Constitution applies in U.S. territories.”

“I personally believe the U.S. constitution is broad enough to allow our customs and practices to continue. It does no one any favors for the Supreme Court to keep residents of the territories guessing on what their rights are and what is permissible under the U.S. flag,” he concluded.

John Fitisemanu is the lead plaintiff in the case filed more than two years ago at the federal court in Salt Lake City, Utah, against the U.S government which was joined by the American Samoa Government and Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata — as Intervenors — in opposing the lawsuit.

The Intervenors had argued in court filings that citizenship should be decided by the people of American Samoa and not by a federal court thousands of miles away in the U.S.

And the Intervenors are supported by the Fono through a Senate Concurrent Resolution approved last year and part of federal court filings, expressing support of the Legislature for itself and on behalf of the people of American Samoa, for the Tenth Circuit ruling in “respecting the right of the American Samoan people to retain our current statutory birthright status as U.S Nationals.”

According to the non-binding resolution, the decision by the 10th Circuit confirms that “the U.S. Congress properly has conferred statutory birthright U.S. nationality on persons born in American Samoa.” (See Samoa News edition July 20, 2021 for details.)