AS IT IS 2016-11-27 An American National, But Not a Citizen

AS IT IS 2016-11-27 An American National, But Not a Citizen

The United States is made up of 50 states, the District of Columbia and 16 territories. Five of these territories are permanently¹ inhabited.

They are the Commonwealth² of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin³ Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa. More than four million people live in them.

Except for American Samoa, people born in these territories automatically become U.S. citizens. They have many of the same rights as other U.S. citizens; however, they may not vote for president, and they do not pay federal taxes.

People who live in American Samoa are U.S. nationals but are not automatically given birthright citizenship⁴. In other words, they do not automatically become U.S. citizens at birth.

American Samoans can apply to become naturalized citizens, but the process is lengthy⁵ and costly⁶. In addition, they must live in the U.S. for three months before they can apply. Then they must stay in the U.S. for months or even years while their application is being processed. During that time, they may not hold a job that requires U.S. citizenship.

A debate about citizenship

Some American Samoans believe the Fourteenth Amendment⁷ to the Constitution already gives them citizenship. Section 1 of the Amendment says, in part:

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction⁸ thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”

In 2013, some American Samoans used the amendment to argue for citizenship. They asked a federal district court judge to order that they be given birthright citizenship. But the judge refused.

They appealed the decision. But, a three-judge federal appeals court panel also refused to grant American Samoans birthright citizenship. The panel said only Congress, not the courts, had the power to make rules for territories.

In June, the U.S. Supreme⁹ Court refused to hear an appeal of that ruling. It did not say why. But the justices seemed to be saying a ruling the Supreme Court made in 1901 should not be changed.

At that time, the Supreme Court considered a series of cases about how the territories won by the United States in the Spanish-American War should be governed. It ruled 5-4 that people in those territories did not have full constitutional rights, even if they are U.S. citizens. The majority said only Congress -- not courts or even the Constitution -- could give people in the territories full rights.

Since then, Congress has given birthright citizenship to people born in Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Many writers, professors and constitutional law professors disagreed with the Supreme Court’s decision earlier this year not to hear the appeal. They said people should not be governed unless they can fully¹⁰ take part in the decisions of a government.

And many said the 1901 Supreme Court decision, which spoke¹¹ about “savages” and “alien” and “uncivilized” races, is both embarrassing and racist¹². They believe American Samoans, like people born in the other four populated territories, should be given automatic citizenship.

What does American Samoa say?

The government of American Samoa disagreed with those who wanted birthright citizenship. It said it did not want any change to be made in the current policy. It said "the people of Samoa are happy with this situation.”

One reason the government of American Samoa is not seeking birthright U.S. citizenship is because of land ownership. It told the Supreme Court that if the U.S. Constitution applied¹³ fully to the territory, laws that stop non-Samoans from buying land could be threatened. Currently, more than 90 percent of the territory’s land is owned communally¹⁴.

Some legal experts disagreed with the territorial¹⁵ government. They said land ownership rights were separate from citizenship rights.

In any case, the territorial government believes American Samoans should decide for themselves in a referendum whether they want to automatically become U.S. citizens. It says if they do, they should then ask Congress to change the law.

Words in This Story

inhabited – adj. occupied or lived in by someone or something

automatically – adv. always happening because of a rule, law, previous agreement, etc.

naturalize – v. to permit (someone who was born in a different country) to become a new citizen

panel – n. a small group of judges chosen from a larger court to hear a case and make a decision

communally – adj. shared or used by members of a group or community

1 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

2 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。

3 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

4 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

5 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

6 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

7 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

8 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

9 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

10 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

12 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

13 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

14 communally   

adv.共同地

参考例句：

• Only when the means of production were communally owned would classes disappear. 只有当生产工具公有时，阶级才会消失。
• The mills were owned communally. 工厂是公有的。

15 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。