Late-night television show host John Oliver tackled voting rights for American citizens in U.S. territories during \u201cLast Week Tonight,\u201d which aired Sunday on HBO.<\/p>\n
With a heavy dose of humor and satire, Oliver took a swing at the U.S. government which, while calling territory residents as \u201cAmerican citizens,\u201d does not allow these \u201ccitizens\u201d to vote.<\/p>\n
U.S. territories include the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.<\/p>\n
He poked fun at how the government allows territories to have a delegate in Congress who basically \u201ccan\u2019t do much.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oliver cited the case of Guam and its importance to the U.S. military. About 27 percent of Guam\u2019s land mass is occupied by Navy and Air Forces, \u201cand yet the residents of Guam have absolutely no say in general elections for their commander-in-chief,\u201d Oliver said.<\/p>\n
What is harder to swallow, Oliver said, is that 1 in 8 residents in Guam are U.S. veterans, which is among the highest in U.S. states and territories. \u201cThose veterans are shamefully under-served,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But Guam\u2019s issues are relatively minor, compared to American Samoa, an \u201cunincorporated territory.\u201d<\/p>\n
Residents born in American Samoa are not even granted citizenship, although American Samoa has the highest rate of military enlistment. Residents of American Samoa are not \u201ccitizens\u201d but are considered \u201cnationals.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis means that the \u2018American\u2019 in American Samoa is really just a title that doesn\u2019t mean anything, like \u2018People\u2019s Choice Awards\u2019 nominee or \u2018social media experts,\u2019 just devoid of meaning,\u201d Oliver said.<\/p>\n
He poked fun at how the federal government uses a more than 100-year-old law to address the concerns of U.S. territories.<\/p>\n
Lawsuits have actually been brought against the U.S. government regarding citizenship and voting rights.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the Obama administration has fought them by citing the \u2018Insular Cases\u2019 from earlier, which suggested that \u2018American Samoans, just like any all residents of the territories, can be given fewer rights because they belong to alien races,\u2019 differing from us in customs and modes of thought,\u201d Oliver quipped.<\/p>\n
He said \u201cthis not an easy thing to do,\u201d but if \u201cwe figured out a lot more complicated things in the last 114 years, we should be able to work out a way to have the 4 million people who live there [U.S. territories] get adequately heard.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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