Citizenship remains elusive for ‘stateless’

For the first time after more than two decades, hundreds of so-called stateless individuals in the CNMI felt that their dream of being conferred U.S. citizenship would finally come true when the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in their favor middle this year. Their hopes further went up when the Governor’s Office later invited them to apply for U.S. passports.

They are keeping that hope in check, however, since the State Department still has time to appeal the ruling at the Supreme Court.

The U.S. Court of Appeals had affirmed in September the ruling granting those born in the CNMI since 1978 U.S. citizenship.

The stateless persons did apply for their much-awaited passports as advised but their documents could not be processed until after a decision is made final, which would depend on whether the federal government appeals the decision by Dec. 16, 2004.

No appeal has been made but the State Department asked the Supreme Court for an extension of the deadline. The petition was granted, moving the deadline to appeal from Dec. 16 to Jan. 14, 2005.

Ninth Circuit Judge John T. Noonan, in his July 1, 2004 decision, said granting those children born between 1978 to 1986 is allowed under both the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the U.S.-CNMI Covenant Sections 301 and 501.

According to Noonan, Section 501 of the Covenant evidently makes all of Section 1 of the 14th Amendment applicable to the CNMI, which is regarded as one of several states.

Noonan’s ruling also instructs the U.S. District Court in the CNMI to reverse its earlier ruling denying stateless children U.S. citizenship.

The appellants in the case are Jacinto A. Sabangan Jr. and Esther Hae Jin Sohn, who, together with 27 other stateless children, brought the issue to the Ninth Circuit in May this year. The case began in 2002 after the State Department rejected Sabangan and Sohn’s application for U.S. passports in June 1999.

Lawyer Reynaldo O. Yana, the appellants lawyer, said that if the U.S. District Court reverses its earlier ruling, as instructed by Noonan, all children born between Jan. 9 1978 and Nov. 3, 1986 would automatically become U.S. citizens even without congressional action.

Meanwhile, Covenant expert Howard Willens, who was counsel for the Mariana Political Status Commission that represented the islands in the Covenant negotiation with the United States, opined that the stateless persons in the Commonwealth are not U.S. citizens “based on the provisions of the Covenant.”

He said that U.S. citizenship for those born on the islands did not come into effect until the termination of the trusteeship in 1986.

“TTPI citizenship is different from CNMI [U.S.] citizenship,” he said.

Willens said the federal appellate court decision is a “misinterpretation of the Covenant.”

In the meantime, CNMI’s stateless persons, on their own, asked the U.S. attorney General and acting solicitor general Paul D. Clement this week to negotiate with them, rather than appeal the court decision.

Randy Mendoza, spokesperson of the group, asked the federal officials to consider the impact that opposing the grant of American citizenship to them will have on their lives, including those who want to serve the U.S. military.

If no appeal is taken against the appellate court’s ruling on or before the Jan. 14 deadline, the decision upholding American citizenship for the CNMI’s stateless persons becomes final and executory.