The government of American Samoa and congresswoman Aumua Amata are planning to appeal a ruling by a US district court judge in Utah that says people born in American Samoan are US citizens.
Pago Pago, American Samoa. Camel Rock near the village of Lauli'i. Photo: Copyright: sorincolac / 123RF Stock Photo
Under current federal law, people born in American Samoa are considered US nationals not citizens.
In the 69 page decision, delivered on Thursday, the US District Court judge Clark Waddoups ruled that people born in American Samoa are citizens of the United States by virtue of the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Judge Waddoups went on to say that any US State Department policy preventing people born in American Samoa from being granted US citizenship violates the 14th Amendment.
Waddoups' decision was the result of a federal lawsuit filed early last year by three American Samoans - John Fitisemanu, Pale Tuli and Rosavita Tuli - who live in Utah and argue that because they were born in American Samoa, a US territory, they are entitled to US citizenship.
American Samoa's Congresswoman Aumua Amata. Photo: Supplied/United States Congress
Defendants in the case include senior officials of the US State Department, with the American Samoa Government and Congresswoman Aumua Amata as interveners.
A Washington D.C. based attorney Michael F. Williams, representing American Samoa and Congresswoman Aumua Amata says the court's opinion was incorrect about important points of law, and its ruling was without precedent in many respects.
Mr Williams said the decision was dismissive of the self-determination of the American Samoan people and the distinctive cultural traditions that make Samoa special.
He said the court hardly addressed these vitally important issues, giving them only a few paragraphs at the end of the ruling.
Michael F. Williams said the American Samoa Government and Congresswoman Aumua Amata intend to appeal the ruling in the United States Court of Appeals.
The US State Department has so far not commented on judge Clark Waddoups ruling.
