Appellate Court Denies Full Review of Birthright Citizenship Case; Supreme Court Fight Loom

Four years after a group of Pacific islanders from a U.S. territory began fighting for full rights as citizens, the fight is heading to the Supreme Court. Civil rights advocates say that even as they lost the latest round of court challenges, they are encouraged by the words of some federal judges appearing in recent opinions.

Within the past few days, a federal appellate court rejected a bid by plaintiffs to have a court panel’s denial reviewed. Advocates with the group Equally American said they would go to the highest court in the land. Plaintiff John Fitisemanu has been demanding birthright citizenship since 2018.

A federal judge in Utah initially ruled in favor of the plaintiff, who called it unfair to deny him the right to vote in local elections and apply for federal jobs. Then a group of officials in American Samoa filed an appeal in the case of Fitisemanu vs. United States, saying it’s up to Congress to declare the rights of those living under the American flag.

The case then went to the U.S. Appeals Court for the Tenth Circuit, where a three-judge panel reversed the lower court ruling. Lawyers representing the plaintiffs then moved for a full appellate review.