There are millions of people in this country who can’t vote because they live in a United States territory.
"In the U.S. Constitution, if you're a U.S. citizen,
you can vote for president.
We have no voting rights in U.S. federal elections."
A territory is not a state.
They’re controlled by the U.S. federal government.
But the people living in these territories
don’t have the same rights as those living in the 50 states.
For example, thousands of them have served in the U.S. military.
But they can’t even vote for president.
There are currently 4 million people in this situation.
They live in the American territories of Guam,
Puerto Rico, American Samoa,
the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands.
And this doesn’t include the many uninhabited islands
that the U.S. controls.
Hey guys, I’m Jun,
and this Sunday we’re gonna talk about U.S. territories,
where they are, what rights they have
and what rights they don’t have.
If you didn’t know that people from most territories are citizens,
you’re not alone.
Only about half of Americans are aware that Puerto Ricans are also Americans.
So we’re going to start with this island first.
Puerto Rico is the largest territory
and was acquired by the U.S. after the Spanish-American War.
Puerto Ricans have been citizens for over 100 years.
Their status came to the rest of the country’s attention after Hurricane Maria
devastated the island in 2017.
Puerto Ricans are American citizens.
But when it came to aid after the storm,
many felt like they were treated differently.
Here's the mayor of San Juan in Puerto Rico pleading for help.
“If anybody out there is listening to us, we are dying.”
President Trump’s response to that plea?
“They want everything done for them.”
The reason Puerto Ricans were pleading so desperately for help is because the situation was so dire.
It’s estimated that over 4,000 people died as a result of the storm.
10 months after Maria, a thousand people were still without power,
and thousands were homeless.
Taxation was another big topic of conversation – and misinformation – after Maria.
Puerto Rico does not pay federal income taxes,
because it has its own system of self-governance.
But it does pay, and so do the other territories, other federal taxes including Social Security and Medicare.
Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands also pay federal unemployment taxes.
The political limbo of Puerto Rico and the other territories creates a very one-sided relationship
with the rest of the U.S.
Puerto Rico has voted on statehood numerous times,
most recently right before Maria.
And although voter turnout was low,
97% of those who showed up at the polls voted in favor of making it the 51st state.
But the result of their vote can’t change Puerto Rico’s status.
It’s ultimately up to voting members of Congress to determine the island's
and the other territories’ political fate.
"Most members of Congress,
they couldn't find Guam on a map,
and they don't want to,
because it's completely off their radar."
In the nearby U.S. Virgin Islands,
the situation is similar.
“About 70% of the territory’s 107,000 residents are still without power
more than a month after the storm made landfall.”
“I have no power in my own home.
And those of you in Florida and in Texas and in other places would not stand for that.
But you expect us to stand for it.”
These small islands
were also hit hard by Hurricane Maria
and the devastating Hurricane Irma that hit right before.
They were both category 5 hurricanes –
though the impact on the U.S. Virgin Islands has gotten much less news coverage.
That could be because their total population is fairly small,
just over 100,000.
The U.S. Virgin Islands were bought from Denmark in 1917 for strategic military purposes.
Though they’ve had over 90 years of citizenship,
they are still only a non-voting member of Congress.
That representative you heard from, Stacey Plaskett,
she’s using every opportunity to remind politicians
in Washington about the millions of people in the territories who have had their rights denied.
“Once again, the people who have no vote on this floor, the people who have no say in this country –
although they are U.S. citizens –
are going to be left out.”
Next we’re going to talk about American Samoa,
over 7,000 miles away from the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The people here are born on U.S. soil.
They can freely visit and live in the rest of the United States.
But their situation is a little different.
They’re U.S. nationals, not citizens.
"American Samoa is home to a great many veterans,
especially on a per capita basis,
as our people enlist at high rates in the U.S. armed forces."
Even if they move to one of the states,
they can’t vote, they can’t run for office
and are prohibited from certain jobs.
They really are the most disenfranchised of the territories.
Now, the first U.S. Navy presence was established here over a hundred years ago.
Though the Navy governed the island for decades,
it wasn’t until 1978 that American Samoa was granted a congressional representative,
and that representative wasn’t actually sent to Congress until 1981.
But remember, that person can’t vote.
There’s also a debate happening on the island right now over citizenship.
Some fear that becoming fully American will mean giving up certain land rights for indigenous people,
opening up a traditional practice of land ownership to discrimination lawsuits.
But others argue that since they’re born on U.S. soil,
they should be able to have full voting rights.
These claims were denied by a court in 2015,
citing the racially motivated “Insular Cases.”
These cases established the rights of U.S. territories over a hundred years ago,
describing the people in the territories as “uncivilized,” "non-white," “alien races.”
And then there’s Guam.
We just did a whole series where we traveled to the island.
And you can check out the link in the comments.
It’s estimated that one in eight adults on the island of Guam are veterans.
That’s one of the highest enlistment rates per capita in the country.
But those that serve and come back to Guam
still can’t vote for their commander-in-chief, the United States president.
They also have issues accessing medical care, and fly thousands of miles to Hawaii for services.
“All we’re asking is the same treatment that any veteran is getting east of Guam,
you know, any veterans getting treatment in the mainland, in Hawaii.
And we just want the same treatment.”
This burden is also experienced by veterans in American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.
The people of Guam have a long history of military service, but also fighting for self-determination.
The first efforts at self-governance date back to 1901,
soon after Guam became a territory of the United States.
This fight eventually led to citizenship in 1950.
Now, 70 years later and with only limited rights,
there’s an independence movement picking this fight back up.
If you want to learn more about that movement, watch part 2 of our series.
Now let’s talk about the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
There are 14 islands in this territory, also called the CNMI.
The majority of people live on three of these islands.
One of these islands, Tinian, is where the Enola Gay took off before it dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
Originally, language and culture connected Guam and the CNMI.
But since 1898, Guam has been politically separate.
In 1983, the CNMI made a deal with the U.S. for citizenship.
In exchange, the U.S. military got a 50-year lease for a small, uninhabited island to practice dropping bombs.
The lease cost less than $21,000.
Now the U.S. military plans to use other islands for bombing and military training sites
that will be part of a military buildup in the region,
which includes moving 5,000 troops from Okinawa, Japan, to Guam.
Authorities and residents in the Northern Marianas oppose this plan.
They’re concerned about the impacts of the bombing on their native land,
the environment and the local tourism industry.
The NGO Earthjustice and other community groups have filed a lawsuit.
"Essentially, we're all in the same boat.
We're reliant upon U.S. Congress to determine our rights.
We don't have a vote there,
so we don't have bargaining power.
Anything they do that applies to us,
it's just hit-and-miss."
This history of U.S. territories is one that's rarely taught in schools.
But there’s a lot at stake for the people in the territories who are treated like second-class citizens,
whether it’s veterans who have served in the U.S. military
or people trying to rebuild after losing everything.
People who live in U.S. territories are born and raised on U.S. soil.
So shouldn’t they have the same rights as everyone else?
Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed the video.
If you think other people should know about the second-class status of people in U.S. territories,
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