Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 06, 2025

Dept of Justice against birthright citizenship in US Territories

Dept of Justice against birthright citizenship in US Territories

On Wednesday, September 23, 2020, lawyers for the US Department of Justice will argue that the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit should reverse Fitisemanu v. United States, a landmark ruling recognising that individuals born in US territories have the same right to citizenship as individuals born in the 50 states or the District of Columbia, Equally American, a nonprofit committed to achieving equal rights for Americans living in US territories, has announced.

Lead plaintiff John Fitisemanu was born in American Samoa – a US territory since 1900. For the last 20 years he has been a taxpaying, US passport holding resident of Utah.

However, based on a discriminatory federal law, he is labeled a “national, but not a citizen, of the United States.” In December, a district court recognised that he is a natural-born US citizen. The next day, Mr Fitisemanu registered to vote.

But because the district court later stayed its ruling pending appeal, Mr Fitisemanu will be unable to vote in November unless the district court’s ruling is affirmed by the Tenth Circuit, according to the release.

“With an important election around the corner, I am hopeful the Tenth Circuit will act quickly so that I will be finally be able to vote,” Mr Fitisemanu said in advance of the argument. “All my life I’ve met my obligations as an American, it is time I’m able to exercise my rights as a citizen.”

The Tenth Circuit arguments in Fitisemanu will be held via video conference. Audio of the argument will be streamed live and recorded at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYizIdJz2L4.

Fitisemanu is the final case of the day, so is anticipated to start around a bit after 10:30am Mountain Time (12:30pm ET). The panel includes Chief Judge Timothy Tymkovich and Judges Carlos Lucero & Robert Bacharach.

“It is astounding that 120 years after the US flag first began flying over American Samoa and other island territories that the US Department of Justice continues to argue that these places are not part of the ‘United States’ when it comes to the Constitution’s guarantee of birthright citizenship,” said Neil Weare, co-counsel in Fitisemanu and president and dounder of Equally American.

“But what’s even more shocking is that DOJ is relying on a series of controversial and racist Supreme Court decisions that just this summer the Supreme Court said should not be expanded in this way.”

Doctrine of 'separate & unequal'


According to the release, the United States arguments against birthright citizenship rely on an expansive interpretation of the Insular Cases, which established a doctrine of “separate and unequal” status for residents of overseas US territories.

The Insular Casees have long been compared to Plessy v. Ferguson, which provided the legal foundation for racial segregation in the United States. However, unlike Plessy, the Insular Cases have not yet been overruled, although in June the Supreme Court cited approvingly to earlier decisions saying the Insular Cases “should not be further extended.”

Nonetheless, the United States cited the Insular Cases on a quarter of the pages of its opening brief and fully half the pages of its reply brief before the Tenth Circuit, relying on many of the Insular Cases’ most openly racist passages.

The Fitisemanu plaintiffs have found support from current and former elected officials representing Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands – American Samoa is supporting the US position that Congress has the unilateral power to extend or deny citizenship in the territories.

Also supporting the Fitisemanu plaintiffs is the Samoan Federation of America, the Virgin Islands Bar Association, a diverse array of legal scholars, and the ACLU.

The Tenth Circuit is unlikely to issue an immediate decision, said the release, with an opinion expected in the coming months. However, the Tenth Circuit rules, the case is likely to be appealed to the US Supreme Court.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
×