What's the Meaning of US Citizenship?
"Privileges and Immunities" should be the same for all under American flag
Most Americans take for granted the “privileges and immunities” guaranteed by the US Constitution. But there are approximately 3,600 people living under the American flag today who ostensibly enjoy US citizenship but who are denied some of its key benefits, including the right to vote for the nation’s political leadership. Such discrimination runs the risk of endangering US national security.
The 14th Amendment of the US Constitution states that “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” In a series of decisions in the early 1900s, known collectively as the Insular Cases, the US Supreme Court allowed that Congress may also extend US citizenship to residents of other political entities, known as “unincorporated” US territories. Citizenship provided to such residents, however, is not the same as US citizenship authorized by the 14th amendment. It is doubtful that many Americans are aware of the difference or of the consequences of the difference.
Thus far, Congress has approved citizenship for residents of four of the five “unincorporated” US territories: Guam, Northern Marianas, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Guam and Puerto Rico were acquired by the US as result of the Spanish American War in 1898. The US Virgin Islands was purchased from Denmark during World War I, while the Northern Marianas initially was part of the Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) turned over to the US after the Japanese surrender at the end World War II. The other inhabited Pacific islands that were part of the TTPI have splintered into three “independent” countries, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau, which are members of the United Nations and enjoy “free association” with the US. The fifth “unincorporated” territory, American Samoa was ceded to the US by local chiefs beginning in 1900. American Samoan residents do not enjoy US citizenship but are considered “US nationals.”
The US acquired these islands for significant strategic reasons. Those reasons have in some ways changed over the years, but there is little doubt that these islands continue to be vital to US national security. While Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are no longer home to major American military facilities, they offer a critical presence in the Caribbean where the US already has to deal with a hostile Cuba and the instability of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Guam, Northern Marianas, American Samoa, and the other Pacific islands are all essential elements in US efforts to contain the ambitions of an aggressive China.
Clearly, it is in the national interest of the US to treat the residents of these islands with respect. Under current policies, that is not being accomplished, because US citizenship granted by Congress is highly restricted and smacks of colonialism.
In part, this is the result of the fact that the “privileges and immunities” of citizenship under the Constitution are enjoyed for the most part through the mechanism of the States. Members of Congress are elected from the individual States. The President is elected through the Electoral College by electors chosen on a State basis. Each “unincorporated” territory is allowed a delegate to Congress, but that delegates cannot vote.
While territorial residents are exempt from federal income taxes, they are not eligible for the same benefits that might be available to citizens of the individual States and the District of Columbia. Federal appropriations for Medicaid, for example, are capped and frequently run out before the end of the year. The federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program that provides means-tested cash benefits to needy aged, blind, and disabled individuals, is limited to residents of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the Northern Marianas. Eligibility for residents of the Northern Marianas was included in the 1976 covenant that created the territory.
Although there have been some occasional efforts to promote economic growth in the territories, the overall track record has been exceedingly poor. Median household income in unincorporated territories in no way compares to the overall US median household income of $67,521. Guam’s $58,300 is the highest, reflecting the significant presence of US military installations. There is an air force base, a naval station and a Marine Corps camp under construction to accommodate troops being moved from Okinawa. These facilities occupy about one-third of Guam’s land. This military presence comes at a steep price in terms of available housing and the cost of living in general for the indigenous Chamorro population trying to compete with US military personnel.
Although Puerto Rico’s “Operation Bootstrap” program initiated in the late 1940s produced some remarkable economic growth, when the Section 936 (IRS tax code) tax incentives were phased out in 1996, the island’s economy began to tank. Between 2004 and 2020 Puerto Rico’s annual economic growth fell by roughly 12.5 percent and its population shrank by more than 16 percent. The US has also been slow to respond to the devastation recently suffered by Puerto Rico. The island was the target of two major hurricanes, Irma and Maria in September 2017 and an earthquake swarm between December 2019 and May 2020. In September 2022, Puerto Rico’s poorly maintained infrastructure sustained additional damage from hurricane Fiona. According to the latest economic data the median household income in Puerto Rico is only about one-third that of the US and its poverty rate is twice that of Mississippi, the lowest in the US.
All territories are facing significant economic challenges, which make attractive a quirky feature of the existing relationship between residents of these islands and the US---all have the ability to enter the US to live and work without a visa. In fact, those with citizenship granted by Congress may enjoy all the benefits of citizenship when they enter the US, even the right to vote for elected officials including the president.
However, if they reestablish their residence in their “unincorporated” territory, their access to such benefits ends. Recent decisions of the US Supreme Court have reaffirmed this discriminatory treatment.
In a May 2022 case, US v. Vaello-Madero, the justices voted 8-1 that Congress was not obliged by the US Constitutions to extend the SSI program to Puerto Rico. Although one member of the court, Justice Neil Gorsuch has called for a change in the current situation, any hope that the current court will take any positive action may be forlorn. The abortion issue is roiling politics not only in the US, but also within the territories, especially Guam and Puerto Rico where the Catholic Church is strong.
The US needs to begin the process of breaking down the essentially “colonial” rule it exercises over its territorial entities. This relationship is inconsistent with the nation’s values and with the nation’s strategic interests.
Statehood for Puerto Rico has been considered for decades and there is little reason today to deny it. San Juan is closer to Miami than Juneau is to Seattle or Honolulu is to Fresno. It would probably be possible to include the Virgin Islands in a Puerto Rican state. By itself, Puerto Rico has a greater population than 20 States and the District of Columbia.
With slightly less than 300,000 residents, Guam and the other Pacific islands do not have sufficient population for a viable state, but perhaps some form of integration with Hawaii could be worked out that would allow residents of these islands to participate in federal elections, including the election of the president. Their security role warrants the effort.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/07/magazine/guam-american-military.html
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/puerto-rico-us-territory-crisis
https://prismreports.org/2021/06/04/guam-wont-give-up-more-land-to-the-u-s-military-without-a-fight/
https://www.pacioos.hawaii.edu/education/region-fsm/
https://michiganlawreview.org/journal/territorial-exceptionalism-and-the-american-welfare-state/
https://lasalle-academy.libguides.com/ourworldpoverty/demographics
https://www.statsamerica.org/sip/rank_list.aspx?rank_label=pop1