Should American Samoa Nationals automatically become US Citizens — why or why not?

This was one of the questions posed to eight of nine candidates who attended the American Samoa Community College Congressional forum held last Thursday.

While incumbent Congressman Faleomavaega Eni was absent, the candidates who attended were Aumua Amata, Mapu J. Jamias, Mark Ude, Meleagi Suitonu-Chapman, Rosie Fualaau Tago Lancaster, Togiola Tulafono, Tua’au Kereti Matautia Jr., and Tuika Tuika.

Ude noted that it’s his feeling that American Samoa is under the United States flag and those who are born in American Samoa should have the same constitutional rights as anyone else who was born in the United States. He said, “The problem I have with us being US nationals at birth and not US Citizens, is because it punishes those who are legally in the territory… when individuals find themselves unemployed because they could hold certain jobs as US nationals, but laws have been passed that require them to be US Citizens to obtain these jobs.”

Togiola weighed in on the question saying, “American Samoans should become US Citizens automatically as part of the American family but there are a lot of elements lacking in our government set up that makes that not possible.”

“We can become citizen by choice,” he said, noting if you want to be a citizen, you can go to the US and be naturalized, however if elected he will seek to change the law so that US Nationals can be naturalized on American Samoa soil.

Tuika on the other hand does not support the move for US Nationals to be automatically US Citizens. He said there is a reason the elders did not agree to this. He said if American Samoans have automatic citizenship, our lands will be taken over by foreigners and the government will not be Samoan. He said there would also be foreigners in the legislative branch.

Mapu agreed with Tuika and said that American Samoa has the best of both worlds. “I had to become to US Citizen in order to be an officer in the US Army, and there is a need to look at the legal aspect of the ramification of the current law. It will have an effect on the law, the matai system and the taxation of our lands and we don't have that much land. If we open up that can of worms, then we will become an extinct minority.”

Tuaua stated that she believes ”the free choice is up to the individual whether applying for naturalization, but from my perspective I cannot really separate an automatic citizenship as a political question and if elected I will seek a referendum on this matter, and seek the wisdom of the Fono — and everyone should be involved in this process.”

Meleagi told the ASCC students that she is a citizen because she was born in Hawai’i, however when her passport expires she will become a US National, because to her there is no difference at all. As a US Citizen and US National the only difference that she sees is that “the US Nationals cannot vote for the president.”

(Samoa News should point out that you are born a US national — in this case you must be born in American Samoa — you cannot become one later as a ‘naturalized’ US national.)

Rosie says that there is a pathway already established as far as getting US Citizenship and it’s something that needs to be cautiously looked at, in terms of legal ramification of being automatic, because under the US Constitution there is no discrimination for a place of birth origin and once that gateway is opened, what is the protection there for American Samoa lands?”

“Sure it’s a great honor and a right to have, but what are the ramifications for future generations? The decision we make today impacts tomorrow, and we have to be careful,”she said.

Aumua noted that this is the same question posed by military personnel she recently visited. She said that in her view these are two separate issues — it’s the citizenship for the US nationals living on island and citizenship of US Nationals living off island. She said that US nationals living on island should not automatically have citizenship if they do not want it.

“The minute they want to be a citizen, they should quickly get it with just the stroke of a pen, and Congress can do that by amending the language to make it easy, if they want to,” she said.