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Stateless issue hits snag
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Posted on Dec 13 2004
The CNMI government may have to hold off with its plan to hold a U.S. citizenship swearing-in ceremony for the so-called “stateless” persons after the federal government indicated that it might appeal the matter before the U.S. Supreme Court.
According to assistant attorney general James Livingstone, he received information that the U.S. Attorney’s Office has filed with the Supreme Court a request for an extension of time within which to file an appeal.
The 90-day deadline for the U.S. State Department to appeal an adverse ruling by the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit falls on Dec. 16, Thursday.
The Saipan Tribune contacted yesterday the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Guam, particularly lawyer Mikel Schwab, to elaborate on the Supreme Court filing, but the call has yet to be returned as of press time.
The U.S. Department of Justice, through the USAO, represents the State Department in opposing the clamor for citizenship by the stateless group, which numbers about 300 individuals. Stateless persons are those born in the Northern Marianas between Jan. 1, 1974 and Nov. 4, 1986—the intervening period between the adoption of the Covenant and its ratification.
The reported filing of pleading by the USAO came about even as the CNMI government strongly expressed its support for the granting of American citizenship to stateless persons. Gov. Juan N. Babauta earlier said that these persons’ political and immigration status unintentionally resulted from their birth in the Northern Marianas between Jan. 1, 1974 and Nov. 4, 1986.
Babauta earlier said he would like a citizenship swearing in for the stateless persons after Dec. 16. He had been vocal about appealing to the federal government not to take the matter before the U.S. Supreme Court. Scores of stateless persons have also filed their passport applications with the U.S. Passport Office upon the Babauta administration’s advice.
The U.S. Court of Appeals earlier overturned Saipan federal court’s ruling, which declared that stateless persons are not U.S. citizens. Later, the appellate court denied the State Department’s request for a rehearing on the case.
