II, and beyond, heavily influencing the local culture and way of life.
An unorganized, but self-governing territory
Despite an attempt by the US Department of the Interior to have Congress pass an organic act making American Samoa an incorporated territory, due in part to opposition from locals, Congress has never official passed an organic act. Therefore, American Samoa remains as the only permanently inhabited unorganized US territory, and as such, is under total control of the US President, for which American Samoans as non-citizen nationals, and residents of a territory, cannot vote for. In the Ratification of Act of 1929, Congress vested all civil, judicial, and military powers in the President, who in 1951, through an executive order, delegated those powers to the Secretary of the Interior.
This legal structure is what stands today, and is what was used to allow the territory to have a local constitution, enacted in July 1, 1967 after promulgation by US Secretary of the Interior Fred Andrew Seaton. This means that to this day, the President or their delegate could unilaterally dissolve the local legislature called the Fono, dissolve the constitution, and prevent any other local law from being enacted.
Interestingly, American Samoa’s current status has not all been due to unilateral impositions by the federal government. Attempts to incorporate the territory, have it rejoin independent Samoa, or move towards autonomy or independence have been resisted.
The intricacies of the debates surrounding the status and legal aspects of American Samoa are manifested in several areas. For instance, efforts in court to automatically extend US citizenship to American Samoans are opposed by some, even by the territory’s delegate in Congress, Amata Aumua Coleman Radewagen, who argues locals should have the choice of whether to become a citizen or not. Instead she says, the naturalization process for US nationals should be simplified, recognizing widespread ignorance of the legal status of nationals, which are akin to permanent legal residents. This position stems from a strong appreciation to local customs, which in American Samoa dictate more than cultural decisions. The local village politics systems of faamatai and faasamoa still dominate life at every level, from family to territorial matters. These two systems dictate policies that would be inconsistent with the total application of the US Constitution and federal laws, for instance in areas like property ownership, which according to local practices is subject to familial requirements, which only ethnic Samoans can meet. Therefore, further integration with the United States, through incorporation, statehood, or automatic extension of citizenship would come in conflict with these highly-valued customs.
At the same time, historically, efforts to move the islands towards independence have remained unsuccessful, seemingly contradicting the resistance to integration. However, in the scope of its history, and practical realities, to some, the status quo remains a happy medium, whereby the territory stands under the protective umbrella of the US, with access to locals who wish to move to the mainland, but also maintaining their ability to continue local customs they otherwise would have to abandon. This shapes American Samoa as a unique jurisdiction, even among the other territories. As a matter of fact, American Samoa is the only territory that controls its immigration system. A consequence of this structure, is that the territory is also the only major jurisdiction in the US not considered as a state for purposes of immigration, which means a US legal permanent resident that moves there, can be considered to have abandoned their permanent legal residence in the US.
American Samoans are not American citizens, and that’s a disadvantage
Complexities of the status of American Samoa notwithstanding, the territory still remains subject to the absolute control of the President and Congress. Lacking a vote for either one of these, residents are under a tremendous disadvantage, and are pro