''Tuaua v. United States'' is a court case, originally filed in 2012, in which a group of

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the International ...

ns sued the

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nat ...

and the

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 44th president of the United States began with First inauguration of Barack Obama, his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democratic Pa ...

. They sued to force the government to recognize American Samoans' birthright citizenship, arguing that the

Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Fourteenth Amendment (Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments. Often considered as one of the most consequential amendments, it addresses citizenship rights and e ...

guarantees that anyone born in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

is automatically granted citizenship.

Background

The case originated as a complaint filed in 2012 in the

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a federal district court in the District of Columbia. It also occasionally handles (jointly with the United States District Court for the District of ...

, by American Samoan and U.S. national Leneuoti Tuaua, who was prohibited from becoming a police officer in California because he was not a U.S. citizen. The case was docketed in the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. federal appellate cou ...

in 2013. Briefs were filed on May 12, 2014, and an oral argument was made on February 9, 2015. On June 5, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled 3–0 to deny birthright citizenship to American Samoans, ruling that the guarantee of such citizenship to citizens in the Fourteenth Amendment does not apply to unincorporated U.S. territories. On February 1, 2016, attorneys filed a petition requesting that the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. Federal tribunals in the United States, federal court cases, and over Stat ...

review the Appeals Court's decision. On June 13, 2016, the Supreme Court denied

certiorari In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of an English prerogative writ, issued by a superior court to direct that the record of ...

, meaning the case will not be heard, and the lower court's ruling stands.

Subsequent cases

In ''

Fitisemanu v. United States ''Fitisemanu v. United States'' (Docket 21-1394) was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States was asked to consider if the Insular Cases should be overturned and whether people living in American territories such as American Samoa a ...

'', the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled 2–1 to reverse a lower courts decision that stated that American Samoans are entitled to birthright citizenship and to overturn the

Insular Cases The Insular Cases are a series of opinions by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1901 about the status of U.S. territories acquired in the Spanish–American War. Some scholars also include cases regarding territorial status decided up unti ...

. Despite Justice Gorsuch showing his willingness to overrule the Insular Cases in his concurrence in ''

United States v. Vaello Madero ''United States v. Vaello Madero'', 596 U.S. ___ (2022), was a United States Supreme Court case related to the constitutionality of the exclusion of United States citizens residing in Puerto Rico from the Supplemental Security Income program. In ...

,''the case was similarly denied certiorari on October 17, 2022.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Opinion by D.C. Circuit
2015 in American Samoa 2015 in United States case law United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit cases United States Fourteenth Amendment case law

Background

Subsequent cases

See also

References

External links