As America celebrates its semiquincentennial anniversary, it’s time to finally address the twin-faceted existential questions: who is an American in which America? Benign neglect is not an option in an increasingly multipolar world where both the absolute and relative power of the United States will be under threat for the foreseeable future.
Indeed, the People’s Republic of China is considered the overarching threat that could lead to armed conflict within the next two decades, according to both the 2025 National Security Strategy of the United States of America and the 2026 U.S. National Defense Strategy. While these vital documents clearly identify the threat, they are silent on defining the people and territorial scope of the U.S.
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The Immigration and Naturalization Act defines the U.S. as “the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.” Conspicuously missing is American Samoa.
OPINION — BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP: A BATTLE FOR THE SURVIVAL OF OUR REPUBLIC
The U.S. Air Force Doctrine on Homeland Defense 2026 defines the U.S. as “the continental United States (CONUS), Alaska, Hawaii, territories in the Pacific (i.e., Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands), as well as territories in the Caribbean (i.e., the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the surrounding territorial waters and airspace).” Clearly, American Samoa is included.
So, the people of American Samoa are not considered part of the people of the U.S. with respect to citizenship and political security, but the territory of American Samoa is considered part of the territory of the United States with respect to military security. Manifestly, this contradiction, whatever the historical rationale, is now dangerous from the perspective of both political and military security.
American Samoa, which has only a token U.S. military presence, is virtually defenseless against a significant Chinese military threat. Hawaii, the closest U.S. state with major military capabilities, is about 2,585 miles north of American Samoa. Guam, the closest U.S. territory with important military capabilities, is about 3,595 miles northwest of American Samoa.
By contrast, while Washington sleeps, Beijing is geostrategically outflanking American Samoa by virtue of China’s growing security arrangements with the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the Solomon Islands. With respect to American Samoa, the Cook Islands are about 865 miles to the southeast, Fiji is about 785 miles to the southwest, and the Solomon Islands are about 2,000 miles to the northwest.
Clearly, if the U.S. is to defend its territories in the Pacific over which it exercises sovereignty (whether de facto or de jure), then Washington must urgently rebalance the current military posture and pivot away from the Middle East and Europe. Moreover, the U.S. should reconsider its military commitments to its legacy Asian allies: Japan, Australia, South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, and Taiwan.
Defense of the homeland must be the supreme vital national interest of the United States.
Surely, if American Samoans are expected to die on the altar of U.S. territorial integrity, the U.S. can consider them to be American citizens.
There is a further anomaly with respect to citizenship that must be corrected: not all U.S. citizens have equal political rights. A U.S. citizen resident in a U.S. territory cannot vote in a federal general election (for president and vice president). Also, U.S. territories and the District of Columbia have no voting representatives in the U.S. Congress.
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Finally, it should be noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has yet to issue its decision in Trump v. Barbara with respect to the scope of the birthright citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. Regardless of the court’s decision, however, Congress has a duty to ensure that the people of American Samoa are endowed with U.S. citizenship on the same basis as the people of all other U.S. territories. Furthermore, Congress has a duty to ensure that all U.S. citizens have equal political rights.
After 250 years, Americans should not have to ask, “Who is an American in which America?”
Samir Tata is the founder and president of International Political Risk Analytics, an advisory firm based in Reston, Virginia, and author of the book Reflections on Grand Strategy: The Great Powers in the Twenty-first Century.
