Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The federal executive branch contends that any grievance towards US citizenship when it comes to persons born in American Samoa should be directed to the US Congress, which has the authority to define the relationship between territories and the United States.

This is according to US Justice Department filings at the federal court in Salt Lake City, Utah, where three American Samoans filed a complaint against the US State Department and its officials, as well as the federal government.

The plaintiffs — John Fitisemanu, Pale Tuli and Rosavita Tuli — argue, among other things, that because they were born in American Samoa, a US territory, they are entitled to citizenship under the 14th Amendment, the Citizenship clause — of the US Constitution.

Plaintiffs, which also include an organization in Utah, also sought summary judgement in their favor.

Attorneys with the USDOJ, representing the defendants, have asked the court that this case be “dismissed in its entirety for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, and Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment should then be denied as moot”.

In the alternative, the court should deny Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment, and grant Defendants’ cross-motion for summary judgment, on all claims, according to the defense.

“This case presents a pure question of constitutional law: whether persons born in American Samoa, an unincorporated territory of the United States, are guaranteed birthright citizenship under the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,” the defense asked — and responded, “The answer to that question is no.”

Defense attorneys argue that although Congress may provide for birthright citizenship by statute — as it has for those born in the unincorporated territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands — “Congress has enacted no such legislation with respect to American Samoa.”

“Accordingly, Plaintiffs may only prevail if the Constitution requires birthright citizenship for anyone born in an unincorporated territory of the United States,” the defense contends.

“Such a novel holding would be contrary to the decisions of every court of appeals to have considered the question, inconsistent with over a century of historical practice by all three branches of the United States Government, and conflict with the strong objection of the local government of American Samoa,” the defense said.

Additionally, the US government does not dispute Plaintiffs’ well-documented assertion that the people of American Samoa have made remarkable contributions to the United States over the past century.

“Nonetheless, as a matter of constitutional law, Plaintiffs have directed their grievance to the wrong branch of government. Any remedy here must come from Congress, not the federal judiciary,” the defense points out.

They further argue that when it comes to US territories, Congress decides on a territory-by-territory basis, whether, when, and under what circumstances persons born in the territory (or already living in the territory at the time of acquisition) become U.S. citizens or nationals.

“Thus, Congress has, over time, conferred U.S. citizenship on persons born in (or already living in) several U.S. territories,” including Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam and CNMI, they said.

However, Congress has decided that persons born in “an outlying possession of the United States”— currently defined as American Samoa and Swains Island (which is part of American Samoa) — “shall be nationals, but not citizens, of the United States at birth.”

The defense noted a similar recent case that was heard at the federal court in Washington D.C. in which the lead plaintiff was Leneuoti Tuaua. The case was later dismissed. The case went all the way to the US Supreme Court, which declined to hear it.

In the Tuaua case, the government of American Samoa and its delegate in Congress both contended that application of the Citizenship Clause to persons born in American  Samoa would have serious consequences for American Samoa’s traditions and culture.

A unanimous panel of the D.C. Circuit Court, in the Tuaua case, held that the Citizenship Clause does not apply to individuals born in the unincorporated and outlying territory of American Samoa, the defense said.