4 ms·
Those born in American Samoa fit parent's comment. They're US nationals, but not citizens. Only a few months ago, a district judge ruled that they should be ci
by function_seven 6y ago
Those born in American Samoa fit parent's comment. They're US nationals, but not citizens.
Only a few months ago, a district judge ruled that they should be citizens, but stayed his own order pending appeal. [0]
[0] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/13/us/american-samoa-us-citizenship.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/13/us/american-samoa-us-citi...
- burlesona 6y agoThis is interesting: > The government of American Samoa has opposed automatic citizenship for its residents, arguing it would threaten the territory’s traditional cultural and religious practices. I’m surprised the local government would prefer “non-citizen national” status.
- zdragnar 6y agoThere are reasons that places like American Samoa and Puerto Rico would not want to become full states- losing a certain degree of autonomy among them (of course, not all who live there feel this way). Automatic full citizenship might be seen as a stepping stone down a slippery slope towards statehood, at least by those who prefer their current status.
- SpicyLemonZest 6y agoThe problem is that many of those "cultural and religious practices" would be unconstitutional if they were a fully incorporated territory. For example, only ethnic Samoans are currently allowed to own land.