American Samoa Congressional Delegate Proposes Easier Path To Citizenship For AMERICAN Samoans

Tautalatala.com ^

[coconutt2000]

In response to a recent The Hill article that covered the latest lawsuit for birthright citizenship, the Hon. Delegate to Congress for AMERICAN SAMOA, Amata Radewagen, wrote “the Hill’s headline ‘American Samoa residents sue for citizenship’ is not accurate”.

[billakay]

yes and offer them dual citizenship if they want it.

There is no need. American Samoans have no other citizenship. They are ONLY Americans, who carry US passports. They just have this funky status of "non-citizen national". They can "upgrade" to full citizenship by moving to the US proper and applying for naturalization.

[novemberslady]

3) Most AMERICAN Samoans are happy to be US Nationals and maintain that status as part of the deal that allows us to keep our culture, land, and government the way they are.
4) We believe that extending birthright citizenship will endanger our system of Nobility, our racial protections of our lands, and our right to choose a form of government that suits our culture. All of these things are incompatible with US citizenship and the US Constitution.

[coconutt2000]

You don’t really seem to understand the issues involved. I would suggest more reading.

You can’t kick people off of their own land anymore. At most the U.S. can change the relationship with the territory by an act of Congress.

Your options are:

1) Force them to a become fully autonomous and independent, like the U.S. did to the Philippines.
2) Make the territory into a Free Associated State (independent but foreign policy and defense are led by U.S.).
3) Maintain the status quo.

There is no option to kick people off their land and out of their ancestral homeland, that they still own. And did you even read the above?

[coconutt2000]

Crap...I always thought Samoans were all US citizens. I’ve served with a good number in the military.

Many of them naturalize. It isn't difficult or hard, just mildly inconvenient sometimes. It used to be a lot easier but I think Clinton's administration changed the process. Naturalized American Samoans were probably voting Republican, so they put an end to the simpler process.

[coconutt2000]

Thank you, for the detail on American Samoa’s background regarding becoming a territory. I was already acquainted with the Samoans tight relationship and now understand how it came about.

You're welcome. Thanks for taking the time to read up on it.

[coconutt2000]

What does Pelosi have to say about all this ?

Last time I checked Pelosi backed away from supporting the canneries when Republicans tried to shame her into dropping the stupid and ill conceived minimum wage increase bill.

I remember that they pointed out her hypocrisy expecting her to back down and withdraw the bill, but she double downed and removed the exemption for the territory and the result was the territory lost nearly 1/5 of its private sector jobs and 1/2 of its cannery driven GDP.

The few years after were particularly tough and it didn't help that Obama let the Chinese lock the U.S. out of the Kiribati fisheries, and allowed tax free imports for canned tuna from South East Asian countries.

Yes, Republicans can put the blame for the poor economic conditions in American Samoa squarely on Democrats.

[coconutt2000]

We love our Samoan jokes, but that one is just lame.

What do you call a car full of Samoans?

Lowrider.

That’s how it is done.

[coconutt2000]

American Somoans are not a problem for America, it is the hordes of millions illegals with no cultural ties to our country trying to enter and get a free ride.

Just need to educate the rest of the conservatives so none of them jump straight to "deport 'em" without realizing you can't deport an American... from America.

Although, i was flying into the country once (and I'm a U.S. citizen) to visit my brother, and I forgot my brother's address and the ICE agent was going to refuse me entry. I should have let him push it all the way up to a supervisor but I bent to his requirement and just stepped out of line and called my brother for his address.

[coconutt2000]

I think her business interests are with the Marshall Islands territory and the labor laws related to the fish processing industry there. The “temporary’ workers in the factories depress wages radically for the whole territory.

Actually it is American Samoa, and the temporary workers did receive a lower wage than normal residents, but the net benefit of their employment and the economic activity around both canneries was positive for the territory.

The loss of one cannery caused a recession and the territory hasn't recovered. The politicians, rather than taking effective measures to revamp the tax code to attract investment, and rather than paying their bills to private sector vendors, has chosen to increase hiring for public sector jobs, and this has severely impacted public services, and created a huge spending and budget crisis. They're raising taxes again this week to try and make up for it, but frankly that's stupid because they don't even collect all the taxes they're owed from all the cheating that goes on, so this means that only the honest businesses and honest people will be paying full taxes and the not so honest will prosper, which will in turn cause more problems and more corruption.

[coconutt2000]

You are absolutely right. They either need to be with us - or they need to be put out for being against us.

I'm going to assume that you mean forcing the territories into independence or statehood and that you're not advocating stealing land we own and still hold legally under both U.S. and local laws. I mean, where would you deport the Americans whose ancestors have lived in those territories for thousands of years to?

So I'm just going to assume you meant independence or statehood, and I agree that every territory should be encouraged constantly to reach for statehood. American Samoa is slightly different since it is more like a U.S. version of a "trust territory" and would likely be treated more like a Native American reservation. I believe the other territories though were acquired via conquest, so their legal basis is very different from American Samoa.

[wardaddy]

That’s kinda pc sounding

I fart in your general direction

[Reno89519]

We can do what we want. Much like the residents were evicted from Diego Garcia and other places. You skipped the other option, make them full citizens with full rights of citizenship.

[Hootowl99]

Thanks for fixing my tangle plus your perspectives and detail on the issues of importance to the territory.

[higgmeister]

That’s kinda pc sounding

I've visited New Echota and The Chief Vann House many times. I grew up in Rome, Georgia where the Chieftains Museum is. That's the home of Cherokee Chief Major Ridge. My beautiful wife has some Cherokee blood. The first Democrat President, Andrew Jackson, was responsible for the "Trail of Tears" so how could it be PC to be angered and against the evil thing that Democrat did. My Father-in-Law grew up in Spring place near The Chief Vann House. His older sister was friends with the daughter of the Doctor that lived there in the 1930's and had several sleepovers in that house.

I know Jackson was a favorite son of Tennessee but the peaceful civilized and clearly assimilated Cherokee did not deserve what he did.

New Echota Historic Site Photos

Chief Vann House

Yes these were two homes of Cherokee chieftains. Joseph Vann went to Oklahoma Indian Territory, prior to the main Cherokee Removal with a few hundred Cherokee men, women, children, their African-American slaves (including 200 of his own) and horses aboard a flotilla of flat boats to Webbers Falls at the falls of the Arkansas River. There Vann developed a plantation and directed slaves to construct a replica of his lost Georgia mansion. This building was later destroyed during the American Civil War. The Cherokee homes were of the same style and design of the white settlers who lived and farmed the same way. Moravian missionaries were fully accepted by the Cherokee Tribe and some went to prison rather than desert them during their legal battles even up to the Supreme Court.

[wardaddy]

Destination Rome?

Sorry I couldn’t resist.

I know Rome.....I did a city wide survey there in the late 70s for months and we had an office downtown in an old warehouse....

One of my best pals ever lived between Menlo and Trion and raised Simmnetal cattle..he died a few years back from alcohol abuse sadly

I bought a bulldog in Summerville four years ago..a Johnson dog

My kids went to Alpine over in Mentone for nine years and we’d drive down to Atlanta so wifey could shop and then stay in that warehouse hotel downtown Rome and go to the restaurants on Main Street...and take him over to Alpine early for check in

It was fun

The basement was supposedly haunted in the old hotel

My offfice manager used to be a booking agent at William Morris here in Music City and he handled Lynyrd Skynyrd for many years and he’d book that open air Skynyrd show at Rome’s riverfront Park

And I’d help and we’d take tickets and do meet and greet etc

So many pretty women..

It’s was unbelievable lGeorgia being full of peaches

My wife is part Cherokee...she has a few telltale characteristics still...on my homepage...her gg grandmother....a Lannom....her aunt documented it

Jackson was a man of his era and we are folly to judge them beyond that..

I think the Creeks got it worst

I’m a Pocahontas descendent via several FFV lines but I din think I have any recent native infusion

I could be wrong

I really like Rome.