Case 1:18-cv-00036-CW Document 41-1 Filed 04/19/18 Page 2 of 182

Barry G. Stratford (UT #15059) Donald J. Kula (pro hac vice forthcoming)
PERKINS COIE LLP PERKINS COIE LLP
2901 North Central Avenue, Suite 2000 1888 Century Park E., Suite 1700
Phoenix, Arizona 85012-2788 Los Angeles, CA 90067-1721
Phone: 602.351.8000 Phone: 310.788.9900
Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]

Additional counsel listed on signature page

Attorneys for The Samoan Federation of America, Inc.

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

DISTRICT OF UTAH, NORTHERN DIVISION

JOHN FITISEMANU; PALE TULI;

ROSAVITA TULI; and SOUTHERN
UTAH PACIFIC ISLANDER
COALITION;

Plaintiffs, Case No. 1:18-cv-00036-CW

v. BRIEF OF THE SAMOAN

FEDERATION OF AMERICA, INC.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; AS AMICI CURIAE IN SUPPORT
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE; OF PLAINTIFFS
JOHN J. SULLIVAN, in his official
capacity as Acting Secretary of the U.S. Honorable Judge Clark Waddoups
Department of State; and
CARL C. RISCH, in his official
capacity as Assistant Secretary of State
for Consular Affairs;
Defendants.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

INTEREST OF AMICUS CURIAE ......................................................................... 1

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT ................................................................................ 2
ARGUMENT ............................................................................................................ 4
I. AMERICAN SAMOANS, UNDERSTOOD, CORRECTLY, THAT
THE TRANSFER OF SOVEREIGNTY TO THE UNITED STATES
CREATED A RIGHT TO U.S. CITIZENSHIP ............................................. 4
A. The United States Had No Claim to Sovereignty Before 1900 ........... 4
B. In 1900, Samoans Believed U.S. Citizenship Followed Their
Transfer of Sovereignty ........................................................................ 6
C. Settled Law Supported Belief of Right to U.S. Citizenship
Following Transfer of Sovereignty ...................................................... 8
II. ONCE INFORMED OF NON-CITIZENSHIP NATIONAL STATUS,
AMERICAN SAMOANS RELENTLESSLY SOUGHT EQUALITY
AS U.S. CITIZENS FOR DECADES ............................................................ 9
A. Mau Movement and 1930’s Testimony Supporting Recognition
of Citizenship .....................................................................................10
B. Congressional Recognition of Citizenship Stymied by Racial
Animus ...............................................................................................14
III. AMERICAN SAMOANS HAVE NEVER WAVERED IN THEIR
COMMITMENT TO REMAIN PART OF THE UNITED STATES .........18
IV. CITIZENSHIP PROVIDES IMPORTANT BENEFITS AND
CONCERNS OVER CITIZENSHIP ARE MISPLACED ...........................20
A. American Samoans Living in the States Require Citizenship to
Enjoy Same Rights as Other Americans ............................................20
B. Concerns Raised Over Impacts of Citizenship Misplaced .................22
CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................24

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TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

Page

CASES
Boyd v. Nebraska,
143 U.S. 135 (1892) .............................................................................................. 8

Tuaua v. United States,

788 F.3d 300 (D.C. Cir. 2015) .............................................................................. 1

United States v. Wong Kim Ark,

169 U.S. 649 (1898) .............................................................................................. 9

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS
Am. Sam. Const. art. II, § 3 ..................................................................................... 21
Am. Sam. Const. art. II, § 7 ..................................................................................... 21

DEEDS OF CESSION
Cession of Manu’a Islands (Ju1y 14, 1904) .............................................................. 7

Cession of Tutuila and Aunu’u (April 17, 1900) ....................................................... 6

STATUTES
20 Stat. 704 ................................................................................................................ 5
26 Stat. 1497 .............................................................................................................. 5

31 Stat. 1878 .............................................................................................................. 6

48 U.S.C. § 1661 (2018) ........................................................................................ 6, 7

48 U.S.C. § 1662 (2018) ............................................................................................ 7

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
75 Cong. Rec. 4133 (1932) ...................................................................................... 15
76 Cong. Rec. 4926 (1933) .............................................................................. 15, 16

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TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
(continued)
Page

78 Cong. Rec. 4895, 4899 (1934) ............................................................................ 16

A Bill to Provide a Government for American Samoa: Hearing on

H.R. 9698 Before the H. Comm. on Insular Affairs, 72nd Cong.
(1932) .................................................................................................................. 15

American Samoa: Hearings Before the Comm’n Appointed by the

President of the United States (1931) ..........................................................passim

Hearing on H.R. 3564 Before the Subcomm. on Territorial & Insular

Possessions of the H. Comm. on Pub. Lands, 80th Cong. (June 2,
1947) ................................................................................................................... 10
S. Doc. No. 71-249 (1931) ....................................................................................... 14
Staff of S. Comm. on Interior & Insular Affairs, 86th Cong.,
Information on the Government, Economics, Public Health, and
Education of America (Eastern) Samoa (Comm. Print 1960) .......................... 4, 5

Study Mission to E. [Am.] Sam., S. Comm. on Interior & Insular

Affairs, 86th Cong., Rep. of Senators Oren E. Long, of Hawaii,
and Ernest Gruening, of Alaska (Comm. Print 1961) ........................................ 18

OTHER AUTHORITIES
American Samoa Government, Report from the Second Temporary
Future Political Status Study Commission (1979) ............................................. 19
Am. Sam. Future Political Status Study Comm’n, Final Report (2007) ...........19, 20

Brief in Opposition by Respondents American Samoa Government &

Office of Congressman Aumua Amata of American Samoa, Tuaua
v. United States, (U.S. May 11, 2016) (No. 15-981), petition for
cert. denied, (U.S. June 13, 2016) ...................................................................... 22

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TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
(continued)
Page

Brief of Amicus Curiae David B. Cohen in Support of Plaintiffs-

Appellants, Tuaua v. United States, 788 F.3d 300 (D.C. Cir. 2015)
(No. 1492657) .................................................................................................... 22
Charles R. Venator-Santiago, Citizens and Nationals…, 10 Charleston
L. Rev. 251 (2016) .............................................................................................. 17
Christina Duffy Burnett, They Say I Am Not an American…, 48 Va. J.
Int’l L. 659 (2008) ................................................................................................ 8

Christina Duffy Ponsa, Opinion, Are American Samoans American?

N.Y. Times (June 8, 2016) .................................................................................. 23
David A. Chappell, The Forgotten Mau, 69 Pac. Hist. Rev. 217 (2000) ............ 9, 10
EPIC & Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Native Hawaiians &
Pacific Islanders: A Community of Contrasts in the United States
(2014) .................................................................................................................. 21

Harold L. Ickes, Opinion, Navy Withholds Samoan and Guam Petitions

from Congress, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Apr. 16, 1947 ..................................... 17
Noah Feldman, Opinion, People of American Samoa Aren’t Fully
American, Bloomberg View (March 13, 2016) ............................................23, 24
Reuel S. Moore and Joseph F. Farrington, The American Samoan
Commission’s Visit to Samoa (1931) .........................................................7, 8, 11
Rogers Smith, Differentiated Citizenship and Territorial Statuses, in
Reconsidering the Insular Cases (Gerald L. Neuman & Tomiko
Brown-Nagin eds., 2015) ............................................................................. 23, 24

Samoans Said Anxious for Citizenship, Honolulu Advertiser, Feb. 28,

1947..................................................................................................................... 17

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TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
(continued)
Page

Statement of Daniel Aga at the Caribbean Regional Seminar on the

Implementation of the Third International Decade for the
Eradication of Colonialism (May 16–18, 2017) ................................................. 20
U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census Summary File 1 F-45 (2012) ........................... 21

U.S. Census Bureau, CB11-CN.177, U.S. Census Bureau Releases

2010 Census Population Counts for American Samoa (2011) ........................... 21

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BRIEF OF AMICUS CURIAE SAMOAN FEDERATION OF AMERICA

IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

INTEREST OF AMICUS CURIAE

The Samoan Federation of America, Inc. (“Samoan Federation”) is a

501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Carson, California that serves to

advance the cultural, economic, and social well-being of the Samoan community in

the greater Los Angeles area and across the United States. Founded in 1969, it is

one of the oldest Samoan organizations in the continental United States. For the

last 33 years, the Samoan Federation has hosted an annual “Flag Day” celebration

that serves as the largest annual gathering of Samoans in the continental United

States, attracting approximately 30,000 attendees each year from across the

country, including many attendees from Utah. The Flag Day event commemorates

American Samoa’s decision to become part of the United States in 1900 and

celebrates the many contributions American Samoans make to their communities

across the nation.

The Samoan Federation was a plaintiff in Tuaua v. United States, 788 F.3d

300 (D.C. Cir. 2015), where it argued that people born in American Samoa have an

individual constitutional right to citizenship that does not require legislative

approval by Congress or any other elected officials. The Samoan Federation

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believes that recognition of citizenship is critical to the political and economic

empowerment of American Samoan communities throughout the United States.

Discriminatory federal laws that require American Samoans to naturalize to be

recognized as U.S. citizens create significant barriers to the political participation

of American Samoans living in Utah and other states, in effect serving as a poll

tax, literacy test, voter identification requirement, and felon disenfranchisement

provision all rolled into one. Federal, state, and local laws that restrict certain

employment opportunities to U.S. citizens also make it harder for many American

Samoans to provide for themselves and their families, and diminish their standing

in their communities.

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT
For 118 years, American Samoans have saluted the American flag, lived on

American soil, and been governed by American laws. In 1900, the people of what

would become American Samoa voluntarily ceded sovereignty of their islands to

the United States, becoming a United States territory. As the United States flag

rose over Pago Pago harbor on April 17, 1900, those who signed the Deeds of

Cession believed that the transfer of sovereignty would mean they would be

recognized as U.S. citizens. Two decades later, the federal government informed

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American Samoans they were not recognized as U.S. citizens. Instead, they were

later labeled with a new, unprecedented, and inferior legal status of “non-citizen

national.” The historical record is clear that this second-class status was motivated

by racial animus towards the native-born inhabitants of American Samoa and other

overseas territories.

The reaction in American Samoa was swift, and a new political movement

known as the Mau coalesced to demand recognition of citizenship and greater local

self-governance. In the following decades, American Samoan leaders were

unrelenting in their demand to be recognized equally as U.S. citizens.

Despite inaction from the federal government to remedy their second-class

status, American Samoans have remained loyal and patriotic Americans who have

never wavered in their desire to remain part of the United States. In 2018, federal

courts should recognize what American Samoa’s leaders understood in 1900: so

long as the U.S. flag flies over American Samoa, every person born in American

Samoa has a right to be recognized as a U.S. citizen.

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ARGUMENT

I. AMERICAN SAMOANS UNDERSTOOD, CORRECTLY, THAT THE

TRANSFER OF SOVEREIGNTY TO THE UNITED STATES
CREATED A RIGHT TO U.S. CITIZENSHIP.
American Samoa is a U.S. territory that consists of Tutuila, the Manu’a

Islands, Swains Island, and a number of smaller islands and atolls located in the

South Pacific about 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii. American Samoans ceded

sovereignty to the United States by treaty in 1900 and in return expected, among

other things, to be recognized as U.S. citizens consistent with the prevailing laws

of the time. As American Samoans, they believed—with good reason—that by

becoming subject to the sovereignty of the United States government, they had a

right to be recognized as U.S. citizens.

A. The United States Had No Claim to Sovereignty Before 1900

Prior to 1900 the United States had frequent interactions with the islands that

became American Samoa, but the people of these islands retained their own

sovereignty separate from the United States. In 1838, the first United States

expedition set sail for the Samoan islands. See Staff of S. Comm. on Interior &

Insular Affairs, 86th Cong., Information on the Government, Economics, Public

Health, and Education of American (Eastern) Samoa 4 (Comm. Print 1960)

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[Exhibit 1 at 91]. In 1872, U.S. Navy Commander Richard W. Meade, Jr., reached

an agreement with the leaders of Tutuila to establish a coaling station for U.S.

steamships at Pago Pago harbor, although the agreement was never properly

ratified. Ex. 1 at 9. In 1878, the United States ratified a new treaty “of friendship

and commerce,” which permitted the U.S. Navy to establish a coaling station at

Pago Pago harbor in Tutuila. 20 Stat. 704. In 1889, the United States ratified a

treaty with Great Britain and Germany to preserve the independence of the Samoan

islands, which included the assent of the hereditary chiefs who governed the

Samoan islands. 26 Stat. 1497. In 1899, as a result of external pressures for

imperial expansion and internal divisions among Samoan chiefs, a second treaty

was entered among the United States, Germany, and Great Britain—without any

formal Samoan participation. Ex. 1 at 10. In that treaty, ratified by the United

States on February 16, 1900, Germany and Great Britain renounced any claims

1
Documents not readily available are appended as consecutively numbered
exhibits, citations to exhibits are pincited to these numbers, e.g., Ex. 1 at 10, Ex. 22
at 346.

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over the eastern Samoan islands, including Tutuila, in favor of the United States.

31 Stat. 1878.

B. In 1900, Samoans Believed U.S. Citizenship Followed Their

Transfer of Sovereignty
On April 17, 1900, the Samoan chiefs of the islands of Tutuila and Aunu’u

signed a treaty granting the United States government “full powers and authority”

to govern the islands. Cession of Tutuila and Aunu’u at 1–2 (April 17, 1900)

(codified at 48 U.S.C. § 1661 (2018)) [Exhibit 2 at 15–16]. Acting as “the

hereditary representatives of the people” of Tutuila and Aunu’u, the chiefs

“CEDED, TRANSFERRED, AND YIELDED UP . . . all sovereign rights . . . unto

the Government of the United States of America . . . .” Ex. 2 at 16 (original

emphasis). The Cession created a duty of loyalty from the people of these islands

to the United States, pledging that they would “obey and owe allegiance to the

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Government of the United States of America.” Ex. 2 at 17. Following the Cession

signing, the U.S. Navy raised the American flag and took control of the islands.2

On July 14, 1904, the Tui Manu’a (King of Manu’a) and the chiefs of the

eastern Samoan island group of Manu’a similarly granted sovereignty to the United

States, “placing the Islands of Manu’a . . . under the full and complete sovereignty

of the United States of America to enable said Islands, with Tutuila and Aunuu, to

become a part of the territory of said United States.” Cession of Manu’a Islands 2,

(Ju1y 14, 1904) (codified at 48 U.S.C. § 1661) [Exhibit 3 at 26]. In 1925,

American Samoa was expanded to include Swains Island, an atoll north of Tutuila.

48 U.S.C. § 1662 (2018).

The people of these islands believed that by transferring sovereignty to the

United States, they would be recognized as U.S. citizens. See Reuel S. Moore and

Joseph F. Farrington, The American Samoan Commission’s Visit to Samoa 45

(1931) (“[T]he Samoans understood first that annexation by the United States

2
April 17th, “Flag Day,” is the largest annual public celebration in American
Samoa and is commemorated by American Samoan communities throughout the
United States.

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meant the people would receive American citizenship.”) [Exhibit 4 at 53]; Ex. 4 at

55 (“After the American flag was raised in 1900 the people thought they were

American citizens.”); American Samoa: Hearings Before the Comm’n Appointed

by the President of the United States 217 (1931) [Exhibit 5 at 71] (statement of

Chief Sotoa) (“[W]e underst[oo]d in that annexation that we automatically became

American citizens.”).

C. Settled Law Supported Belief of Right to U.S. Citizenship

Following Transfer of Sovereignty
The understanding of the American Samoan people in 1900 that the transfer

of sovereignty to the United States resulted in a right to U.S. citizenship accorded

with the settled legal precedent of the time. In 1900, American law recognized only

two legal statuses related to nationality: citizen and alien. See Christina Duffy

Burnett, They Say I Am Not an American . . ., 48 Va. J. Int’l L. 659, 668–82 (2008)

(explaining that in 1900 the legal status of “noncitizen national” did not exist).

Moreover, as the U.S. Supreme Court had explained less than a decade earlier,

“[m]anifestly the nationality of the inhabitants of territory acquired by . . . cession

becomes that of the government under whose dominion they pass . . . .” Boyd v.

Nebraska, 143 U.S. 135, 162 (1892). Just two years before American Samoa

became a U.S. territory, the Supreme Court authoritatively interpreted the

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Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as reaffirming “the ancient and

fundamental rule of citizenship by birth within the territory, in the allegiance and

under the protection of the country.” United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649,

693 (1898) (emphasis added). Thus, by all accepted legal standards, American

Samoans reasonably expected recognition of U.S. citizenship as a consequence of

transferring sovereignty to the United States though the Deeds of Cession.

II. ONCE INFORMED OF NON-CITIZEN NATIONAL STATUS,

AMERICAN SAMOANS RELENTLESSLY SOUGHT EQUALITY AS
U.S. CITIZENS FOR DECADES.
In the 1920’s, U.S. Naval officers informed the American Samoan people

for the first time that they were not recognized as U.S. citizens by the federal

government.3 See, e.g., Ex. 5 at 78 (statement of Chief Liu that the U.S. Navy

informed American Samoans that they learned they were not citizens); David A.

Chappell, The Forgotten Mau, 69 Pac. Hist. Rev. 217 (2000) [Exhibit 6]. In

response, prominent American Samoans organized a new political movement

3
Statutory recognition of American Samoans as “nationals, but not citizens, of the
United States” did not occur until 1940. Nationality Act, ch. 876, § 204(a), 54 Stat.
1137, 1139 (1940) (current version at 8 U.S.C. § 1408(1) (2018)).

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known as the Mau to press for recognition of U.S. citizenship and greater rights to

self-government. Ex. 6 at 116-135. 4 In the face of repeated inaction from

Congress, efforts to be recognized as U.S. citizens continued through the 1960s.

A. Mau Movement and 1930’s Testimony Supporting Recognition of

Citizenship
The Mau pushed for recognition of U.S. citizenship, organized public

demonstrations, petitioned President Coolidge, and drew significant attention from

Congress. Ex. 6 at 132-35. The Mau’s protest for “their denied rights became an

uproar, although without violence.” Hearing on H.R. 3564 Before the Subcomm.

on Territorial & Insular Possessions of the H. Comm. on Pub. Lands, 80th Cong.

241 (June 2, 1947) (Statement of Harold Ickes, former Secretary of the Interior)

[Exhibit 7 at 148]. Word of political unrest in American Samoa reached Senator

Hiram Bingham of Connecticut. Sen. Bingham introduced legislation to study the

4
The American Samoan Mau movement was separate and distinct from the more
well-known Mau movement that formed around the same time in Western Samoa,
which laid the foundation for Western Samoa’s eventual independence. Ex. 6,
p.100-01. Independence was not a goal of the American Samoan Mau. Id.

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political discontent in American Samoa and was appointed chair of the resulting

American Samoa Commission (the “Commission”). Ex.6 at 135.

Comprised of four members of Congress and three American Samoan chiefs,

in 1930 the Commission convened extensive field hearings in American Samoa.

Ex. 4 at 35-36, 39-40, 52-56. Throughout the hearings, American Samoans

repeatedly and uniformly stated their desire to be recognized as U.S. citizens.

American Samoans emphasized the importance of being treated as equals: “I desire

. . . that the people of American Samoa should be true American citizens; receive

American citizenship, to be equal with the true American.” Ex. 5 at 74

(statement of Chief Nua) (emphasis added). They viewed the denial of citizenship

as unfair and desired to enjoy the same rights as other Americans:

I appeal to the commission to give those people what they want. Give
them American citizenship. Give them the privilege of other people
of the United States . . . . I ask the commission to . . . try your best to
give us American citizenship.

Ex. 5 at 67 (statement of Napolean Tuiteleleapaga, composer of American Samoa’s

anthem) (emphasis added). A chief representing Pago Pago explained that

American Samoans wanted full equality after years of living on American soil and

under American governors:

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[M]any years we have been under the American flag . . . . But . . .

[w]e are not taken yet as citizens of America; . . . I pray . . . that we
may be made citizens of the United States to serve the United States . .
. we wish to become loyal and peaceful citizens of the United States.

Ex. 5 at 78 (statement of Chief Fanene). A chief representing Ta’u of the Manu’a

Islands stated: “I wish . . . that the people of Samoa should obtain true American

citizenship.” Ex. 5 at 76 (statement of Chief Matoa). A high chief emphasized the

contradiction of being under the sovereignty of the United States while not being

recognized as citizens:

[T]he soil of Tutuila and Manua has been made a part of America but
the people of Tutuila and Manua are not American Citizens . . .
I therefore pray that the people of Tutuila and Manua may also
become citizens of America.

Ex. 5 at 83 (statement of High Chief Samuel Tulele Galeai).

American Samoans were unequivocal in their desire to be recognized as U.S.

citizens: “[I]t is requested to . . . make recommendations for the people of

American Samoa to become true American citizens.” Ex. 5 at 71 (statement of

Chief Sotoa). “[E]very person in American Samoa . . . earnestly requests . . . the

people of Samoa to be a true American Citizen.” Ex. 5 at 73 (statement of Tui

Manu’a Chris T. Young). “I request the commission to make a recommendation to

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Congress to take certain acts to have the people of Samoa as true American

citizens.” Ex. 5 at 75 (statement of Chief Tauala).

Opposition to citizenship for American Samoans was limited to written

testimony to the Commission from former Naval Governor to American Samoa

Henry Francis Bryan, who expressed racially paternalistic views towards the

American Samoan people: “The people are primitive . . . . They become savage

only when deeply aroused . . . . They are like grown-up, intelligent children who

need kindly guidance.” Ex. 5 at 96 (written statement of former Gov. H.F. Bryan).

Bryan stated that, “the people of American Samoa are, at present, not at all

prepared to become citizens of the United States; and have given the subject little

or no thought.” Ex. 5 at 97.

The passionate testimony by American Samoa’s leaders persuaded the

Commission otherwise. At the close of the hearings, Commission Chair Senator

Bingham reported that the seven commissioners unanimously supported

recognition of U.S. citizenship: “We shall make a report to the Congress of the

United States which will contain, among other things . . . [t]hat full American

citizenship be granted to the inhabitants of Tutuila-Manua.” Ex. 5 at 86. The

Commission’s report characterized the hearing testimony as, “sincere, and

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expressed with deep emotion…that the inhabitants of American Samoa be given

full recognition as citizens of the United States.” S. Doc. No. 71-249 6 (1931)

[Exhibit 8 at 159]. The Report reflected American Samoans’ principal aims of

obtaining recognition of citizenship while preserving their customs and traditions:

The information furnished . . . by personal contact and observation

made in American Samoa has brought the commission to the . . .
conclusion[] . . . that the Samoans are capable of accepting and should
receive full American citizenship . . . yet maintaining those native
customs which they may wish to preserve.

Ex. 8 at 159. The Report concluded that in addition to being the just reward for

American Samoans’ loyalty and allegiance, the Deeds of Cession necessitated a

grant of citizenship:

The people of American Samoa freely and without reserve offered the
sovereignty of their islands to the United States. This offer Congress
has accepted. These people owed no allegiance to any foreign
government . . . . Their loyalty to the United States and their intense
longings to have made certain their national status demand
recognition.

Ex. 8 at 161.

B. Congressional Recognition of Citizenship Stymied by Racial

Animus
Despite the Commission’s unanimous recommendation to recognize

American Samoans as U.S. citizens, Congress repeatedly failed to act on the

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desires of the American Samoan people, largely due to racial animus, and partly

due to opposition from the U.S. Navy, which at the time administered the islands.

In 1931, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill to recognize American

Samoans as citizens. See A Bill to Provide a Government for American Samoa:

Hearing on H.R. 9698 Before the H. Comm. on Insular Affairs, 72nd Cong. 26, 32

(1932) [Exhibit 9 at 173, 179]. However, the bill was not reported out of the House

Committee on Insular Affairs. Ex. 9 at 184. The Senate passed identical legislation

in the next session, S. 417. See 75 Cong. Rec. 4133, 4591, 4844 (1932) [Exhibit 10

at 190, 191, 193]. But, the legislation again failed in the House. See 76 Cong. Rec.

4926, 4937 (1933) [Exhibit 11 at 196, 207].

Speaking on the House floor, Representative Carroll Beedy, who served on

the American Samoa Commission, described the bill as fulfilling the wishes of

American Samoans for recognition as U.S. citizens. Beedy spoke to his personal

knowledge of American Samoans’ desires, stating that “the bill carries out the

recommendations of the commission . . . the people there are desirous of being

made citizens. They are entitled to citizenship.” Ex. 11 at 197 (1933) (emphasis

added). “Section 4 is the citizenship section, which is the one thing the Samoans

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must have if they are to be satisfied. They now have no citizen status in the world.

They feel this very keenly.” Ex. 11 at 200 (statement of Rep. Beedy).

House opposition to recognizing American Samoans as U.S. citizens was

fueled by archaic claims of racial inferiority:

What I am opposed to is taking American citizenship and flinging it . .

. out to a group of people absolutely unqualified to receive it . . . .
[T]hese poor unsophisticated people . . . . Let us not load upon them
the responsibility of American citizenship. They can not take it . . . I
say to you that this is a right that we ought to circumscribe with
safeguards and is something that should never be given except as a
privilege, and let us not give it to these people until they are able to
appreciate the privilege. [Applause.]

Ex. 11 at 200, 207 (statement of Rep. Jenkins). Responding to this racially charged

language, a supporter called for setting aside racial prejudices to recognize

American Samoans as citizens: “[The people of American Samoa] want American

citizenship, and that is about all they do want from us . . . . I think we can well

waive our racial prejudices and scruples and give it to them . . . .” Ex. 11 at 202

(statement of Rep. Hopper).

The legislation was again defeated in the House. Ex. 11 at 202. In 1934, the

Senate again unanimously passed legislation to recognize American Samoans as

U.S. citizens. 78 Cong. Rec. 4895, 4899 (1934) [Exhibit 12 at 209, 213]. The

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legislation again failed to clear House, and similar bills also failed in 1936 and

1937.5

In 1945 the American Samoan Fono,6 an advisory body of American Samoan

leaders, passed a resolution demanding recognition of American Samoans as U.S.

citizens. Harold L. Ickes, Opinion, Navy Withholds Samoan and Guam Petitions

from Congress, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Apr. 16, 1947, at 9 [Exhibit 13 at 217].

Little was written of the 1945 resolution until 1947 when U.S. Representative C.

Norris Poulson, accompanying U.S. Interior Secretary J.A. Krug on a visit to

American Samoa accused the Navy Department of intentionally withholding

knowledge of the resolution from Congress. Ex.13 at 217. During Secretary Krug’s

visit, high talking chief Tuiasosopo of Pago Pago told U.S. Interior Secretary J. A.

Krug that American Samoans still desired U.S. citizenship. Samoans Said Anxious

for Citizenship, Honolulu Advertiser, Feb. 28, 1947, at 13 [Exhibit 14 at 221].

5
See also Charles R. Venator-Santiago, Citizens and Nationals…, 10 Charleston L.
Rev. 251, 271-72 (2016) (collecting, from 1931 to 2013, 31 bills introduced in
Congress concerning U.S. citizenship for American Samoans).
6
In present-day American Samoa, the Fono is the official name of the legislative
branch of the territorial government.

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In 1960, American Samoan leaders passed another resolution demanding

U.S. citizenship for American Samoans. In December 1960, a congressional

subcommittee visited American Samoa. Study Mission to E. [Am.] Sam., S.

Comm. on Interior & Insular Affairs, 86th Cong., Rep. of Senators Oren E. Long,

of Hawaii, and Ernest Gruening, of Alaska VII (Comm. Print 1961) [Exhibit 15 at

229]. Prior to the subcommittee’s visit, radio broadcasts and local newspapers

solicited American Samoans’ views on U.S. citizenship and whether American

Samoa should remain a part of the United States. Ex. 15 at 247. American Samoan

leaders presented their resolution requesting recognition as U.S. citizens to the

commission. Ex. 15 at 246, 248. The congressional subcommittee reviewed the

resolutions and, after meeting with American Samoan leaders, concluded:

[T]he people on the islands of Eastern Samoa choose America . . . .

[T]he people of Eastern Samoa are desirous of remaining a part of the
United States, that they are loyal to the United States, and that they
are dedicated to political and economic development with the United
States.

Ex. 15 at 236.

III. AMERICAN SAMOANS HAVE NEVER WAVERED IN THEIR

COMMITMENT TO REMAIN PART OF THE UNITED STATES.
American Samoans’ desire to remain a part of the United States has

continued unabated to the present, even as misconceptions about what citizenship

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would mean for American Samoa have arisen. In 1979, the American Samoa

government produced a report on the future political status of the territory. It

concluded that American Samoa should remain as a “territory of the United

States.” American Samoa Government, Report from the Second Temporary Future

Political Status Study Commission 45 (Sept. 14, 1979) [Exhibit 16 at 256]. In

2007, an American Samoan government commission stated that “[t]he Samoan

public . . . overwhelmingly emphasized . . . that American Samoa must remain part

of the American family of states and territories . . . . ” Am. Sam. Future Political

Status Study Comm’n, Final Report 42 (2007) [Exhibit 17 at 272]. The

Commission recommended that “American Samoa shall continue as [a U.S.]

territory and that a process of negotiation with the U.S. Congress for a permanent

political status be initiated.”7 Ex. 17 at 273.

7
Although the Commission recommended that “American Samoa not seek US
citizenship for its people at this time” (Ex. 17, p.278), the Commission emphasized
that concerns regarding U.S. citizenship such as federal taxation and loss of
collective property rights, were unsupported:
We know now that taxes are based on income, not on nationality. Also, we
know now that land is sold only by agreement of the owner, and that over 90
percent of land in American Samoa is communally owned and may not be
alienated without consent of the entire family.
Ex. 17, p.276.

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In 2017, the American Samoan government issued a statement to the United

Nations that American Samoans remain loyal to the United States: “In spite of the

democratic deficiencies, our loyalty and patriotism as a people [to the United

States] is un-challenged.” Statement of Daniel Aga at the Caribbean Regional

Seminar on the Implementation of the Third International Decade for the

Eradication of Colonialism 5 (May 16–18, 2017) [Exhibit 18 at 285].

Throughout American Samoa’s territorial history, American Samoans have

continually reaffirmed their loyalty, allegiance, and desire to remain a part of the

United States. So long as American Samoa remains a part of the United States, all

persons born in American Samoa are entitled to U.S. citizenship as a matter of

right.

IV. CITIZENSHIP PROVIDES IMPORTANT BENEFITS AND

CONCERNS OVER CITIZENSHIP ARE MISPLACED.

A. American Samoans Living in the States Require Citizenship to

Enjoy Same Rights as Other Americans
More American Samoans now live in the fifty states than in American

Samoa. Ex. 17 at 269. The 2010 U.S. Census reported American Samoa’s

population was 55,519, while the population for Samoans living in the 50 states

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was 184,440.8 U.S. Census Bureau, CB11-CN.177, U.S. Census Bureau Releases

2010 Census Population Counts for American Samoa [Exhibit 20 at 309]. 60,876

Samoans live in California alone, and there are sizable Samoan populations in

Hawai’i (37,463), Washington (18,351), Utah (13,086), and Alaska (5,953). See

EPIC & Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Native Hawaiians & Pacific

Islanders: A Community of Contrasts in the United States at 67 (2014) [Exhibit 21

at 333].

The distinction between citizen and non-citizen national has a

disproportionate effect on American Samoans living outside American Samoa. In

American Samoa, non-citizen nationals enjoy all the same rights as U.S. citizens—

they can vote, run for office, and do not face obstacles to employment. See e.g.,

Am. Sam. Const. art. II, §§ 3, 7 [Exhibit 22 at 346-347, 349]. But once a non-

citizen national moves to another part of the United States, they are immediately

disenfranchised at the federal, state, and local level, can no longer run for office,

8
The 2010 Census figures do not distinguish between Samoans (1) born in
American Samoa; (2) born in independent Samoa or another foreign country; and
(3) born in states to parents from either American Samoa or independent Samoa.
See U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census Summary File 1 F-45 (2012) [Exhibit 19,
p.305].

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are prohibited from serving on juries, are often ineligible to serve as police officers

or firefighters, and are even blocked from serving as officers in the U.S. military.

See Brief of Amicus Curiae David B. Cohen in Support of Plaintiffs-Appellants,

Tuaua v. United States, 788 F.3d 300 (D.C. Cir. 2015) (No. 1492657) (describing

the rights and benefits denied non-citizen nationals who live in the states) [Exhibit

23]. Each of the 50 states treats non-citizen nationals differently, making it difficult

for non-citizen nationals to understand their rights as they move to different

jurisdictions. Ex. 23 at 384-85. In many circumstances, non-citizen nationals

actually enjoy fewer rights and benefits than foreign nationals who have a green

card. Ex. 23 at 385-86.

B. Concerns Raised Over Impacts of Citizenship are Misplaced

Despite the long history of American Samoan support for recognition as

U.S. citizens, elected officials in American Samoa today have opposed recognizing

citizenship as a right for people born in American Samoa, arguing instead that

citizenship should be a privilege subject to congressional approval. See Brief in

Opposition by Respondents American Samoa Government & Office of

Congressman Aumua Amata of American Samoa, Tuaua v. United States (U.S.

May 11, 2016) (No. 15-981), petition for cert. denied, (U.S. June 13, 2016),

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[Exhibit 24 at 440]. But these elected officials’ concerns that birthright citizenship

presents a threat to American Samoan self-determination or cultural preservation

are misplaced. The question of self-determination for the American Samoan people

to decide is whether or not to be a part of the United States, a question that

continues to be answered in the affirmative. So long as the United States flag flies

over American Samoa, the U.S. Constitution provides an individual right to be

recognized as a citizen that is not subject to the views of elected officials.

Fears that recognition of citizenship would increase federal control or

judicial scrutiny over land ownership or traditional cultural practices have been

disabused by the American Samoan government’s own 2007 political status

commission as well as by leading constitutional scholars. See, e.g., Christina Duffy

Ponsa, Opinion, Are American Samoans American?, N.Y. Times (June 8, 2016)

[Exhibit 25 at 450-52]; Noah Feldman, Opinion, People of American Samoa Aren’t

Fully American, Bloomberg View (March 13, 2016) [Exhibit 26 at 454-56];

Rogers Smith, Differentiated Citizenship and Territorial Statuses, in

Reconsidering the Insular Cases 103, 124 (Gerald L. Neuman & Tomiko Brown-

Nagin eds., 2015) (noting that “it is not evident, however, why treating [American

Samoans’] citizenship as constitutionally based would raise the bar against

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accommodationist policies” structured to preserve American Samoans’ land and

cultural traditions) [Exhibit 27 at 484]. To the extent American Samoa’s land

ownership rules or cultural protections raise constitutional concerns, these

concerns exist separate and apart from whether American Samoans are recognized

as citizens or non-citizen nationals. “The tension between traditional self-

government and constitutional equality will have to worked out regardless of the

residents’ citizenship status.” Ex. 26 at 456.

CONCLUSION

In 1900, American Samoa’s leaders believed that by transferring sovereignty

to the United States, they would have a right to be recognized as U.S. citizens.

They were right then, and they remain right today. By granting the Plaintiffs’

motion for summary judgment, this Court would grant American Samoans the

long-overdue recognition that they are the equals of all others born within the

United States, as the Fourteenth Amendment requires.

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Dated: April 19, 2018 Respectfully submitted.

/S/Barry G. Stratford
Barry G. Stratford (SBN 15059)
PERKINS COIE LLP
2901 North Central Avenue, Suite 2000
Phoenix, Arizona 85012-2788
Phone: 602.351.8000
Email: [email protected]

Donald J. Kula (pro hac vice forthcoming)

PERKINS COIE LLP
1888 Century Park E., Suite 1700
Los Angeles, CA 90067-1721
Phone: 310.788.9900
Email: [email protected]

Brian Simmonds Marshall,

(pro hac vice forthcoming)
PERKINS COIE LLP
700 13th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, D.C. 20005-3960
Phone: 202.654.6200
Email: [email protected]

David A. Perez (pro hac vice forthcoming)

PERKINS COIE LLP
1201 Third Avenue, Suite 4900
Seattle, WA 98101-3099
Phone: 206.359.8000
Email: [email protected]

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Case 1:18-cv-00036-CW Document 41-1 Filed 04/19/18 Page 33 of 182

Aaron J. Ver (pro hac vice forthcoming)

PERKINS COIE LLP
505 Howard Street, Suite 1000
San Francisco, CA 94105-3204
Phone: 415.344.7000
Email: [email protected]

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