Plaintiffs in Fitisemanu v. United States have received a major boost in the form of six separate amicus briefs filed in support of their claim that people born in U.S. territories have a constitutional right to U.S. citizenship. Last December, a federal district court in Utah issued a landmark ruling in their favor. Earlier this year the United States and American Samoa appealed that decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, arguing it is Congress, not the Constitution, that answers the question of citizenship for people born in U.S. territories.

Equally American sent letters today to the Chair and Ranking Member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee in support of the Insular Area Medicaid Parity Act, H.R. 6495, which seeks to eliminate the general Medicaid funding limitations for Territories of the United States. 

The American Bar Association’s House of Delegates passed a resolution Monday supporting an interpretation of the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution that recognizes all persons born in the territories as natural-born citizens of the United States.

Following our landmark decision in Fitisemanu v. United States, Equally American will be co-hosting two community forums in Utah on Saturday, January 11th to share with the community what this important ruling means for them.

Judge Waddoups rules that Citizenship Clause of Fourteenth Amendment applies in American Samoa and other U.S. territories in a landmark opinion.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court’s nine Justices will squarely face the question of where the Insular Cases stand as they consider whether the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico violates the Appointments Clause of the Constitution. This follows concerns two Justices raised about the Insular Cases last week that hint to the possibility that after more than a century there may finally be interest on the Court to reconsider the Insular Cases.