Court rejects appeal to give American Samoans citizenship
By MARK SHERMAN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal seeking to give people born in American Samoa U.S. citizenship. The court passed up an invitation to overturn a series of decisions dating back to 1901 known as the Insular Cases, replete with racist and anti-foreign rhetoric. Justice Neil Gorsuch had called for the cases to be overturned in April. The justices refused to take up an appeal from people born in American Samoa who live in Utah. They argued that a federal law declaring that they are “nationals, but not citizens, of the United States at birth” is unconstitutional.
