Are American Samoans American?

The New York Times ^ | 08 June 2016 | Christina Duffy Ponsa

[Theoria]

The Supreme Court will soon decide whether to hear an appeal in Tuaua v. United States, which poses the question of whether the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment applies to American Samoa. That this is a question at all is puzzling, and not just because it’s called American Samoa.

The 14th Amendment to the Constitution guarantees citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” The United States annexed the eastern half of a group of Pacific islands known as the Samoas at the end of the 19th century. As a result, those islands became American Samoa. Surely, people born in American Samoa are legally speaking born in the United States and therefore citizens by birth. Easy, right?

Not so easy. The answer is that no one knows for sure.

How is it possible that a question as basic as who is a citizen at birth under our Constitution remains unresolved in a place subject to the sovereignty of the United States? To understand, you have to dive into the muck that is the law of the United States territories.

When the United States closed the deal to annex American Samoa in 1899, it left open whether the islands had become part of the United States for purposes of citizenship. The previous year, the United States had defeated Spain in the Spanish-American War and had taken sovereignty over Spain’s former colonies — Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam.

It was left to the Supreme Court to figure out the constitutional relationship between these new territories and the rest of the United States. In the rhetoric of the day, must the Constitution “follow the flag”? In the Insular Cases of 1901, the court handed imperialists a victory.

[Larry Lucido]

Antone “Tony Rocky Horror” Roccomore was half black and half Samoan. Rumor has it that Marcellus Wallace had him pushed out of a window.

[married21]

Don’t know about their legal status, but the Samoans around here are American. They love Jesus and football, and that’s pretty American to me.

[Jim from C-Town]

What is the difference. Apparently anyone that can get close to the American border is not only allowed in, but is also showered with tens of thousands of U.S. Taxpayers dollars as a reward. Free housing, free food, free education, free medical care and even a chance to vote in elections since they don't require a photo ID.

Just come on in. Uncle Sucker is happy to fleece the working citizens of his country to finance the betterment of other countries citizens!

[Jonty30]

Shouldn’t be that hard to answer, at the time Samoa became a territory, were they offered citizenship and did they accept or reject the offer?

[gaijin]

something like 70% of all Samoans work for StarKist tuna, the one Nancy Pelosi protects against minimum wage laws.

[T-Bone Texan]

The Samoans I met in CA were prone to violence and were taught to hate white people.

Many of them teach their children to goad white people and then attack in packs. I have been spit on by a 12 yr old Samoan while delivering pizza, and had my nose broken at 18 by a Samoan coworker.

No, they are not American.

[the_individual2014]

Your nose was broken, sorry to hear that, I hope you returned the favor.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Is the Pope Catholic?

Wait! What?

Never mind. Scratch that one.

[T-Bone Texan]

I dated a girl, sweet as pie, who related that when she was a child at a playground in Millbrae, CA a Samoan woman approached her, accused her of looking at her with "snake eyes", and punched her in the face apropos of nothing.

Many people have such stories.

[oblomov]

If I recall correctly, they are American nationals, but not citizens.

[DaveA37]

The “United States”? When did Samoa become a state? We have other territories that are NOT “states” but their people are considered “Americans”. Why?

[Ann de IL]

Interesting that the Times uses ‘and subject to the jurisdiction thereof’ with the Samoans but won't use it with other immigrants who actually are subject to the jurisdiction in their original countries. Illegal Mexicans for example.

[showme_the_Glory]

Samoa seems like a football player factory to me?

[Dr. Sivana]

i> We have other territories that are NOT “states” but their people are considered “Americans”. Why?

For the same reasons that people who were in Nevada and Utah before they became states were considered Americans. "Subject to the jurisdiction thereof" includes territories.

[TexasGator]

“For the same reasons that people who were in Nevada and Utah before they became states were considered Americans. “Subject to the jurisdiction thereof” includes territories.”

Don’t quote out of context. It says ‘in the United States’ and ‘the state wherein they reside’.

Samoa is NOT a state in the United States.

---

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.

[marron]

Are they looking for wiggle room so they can hand them over to China?

[bgill]

Bottom line in all this grabbing more RAT votes.

[Dr. Sivana]

I’m not quoting out of context. The “and the state wherein they reside” simply is a nod to state sovereignty. When I moved to Georgia,I became a citizen of Georgia as well as the U.S.A. Those born in D.C. are certain U.S. citizens but the “state wherein they reside” is not applicable in their case.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

Some people are going to be upset...