Equally American, in collaboration with Hispanic Federation, American Civil Liberties Union, and LatinoJustice\u00a0PRLDEF, held a\u00a0virtual discussion\u00a0last Tuesday on the impact of\u00a0United States v. Vaello Madero\u00a0decision and the\u00a0emerging campaign\u00a0to overrule the\u00a0Insular Cases\u00a0once and for all. Following last month\u2019s decision in\u00a0United States v. Vaello Madero, it is more evident than ever that the United States has a\u00a0colonies\u00a0problem.<\/p>\n
In\u00a0Vaello Madero, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a damaging blow to equity in U.S. territories, reversing two lower court decisions and ruling over a powerful dissent from Justice Sonia Sotomayor\u00a0to\u00a0state that Congress can constitutionally discriminate against U.S. citizens living in the territories to deny them access to Supplemental Security Income and other federal benefits. This highlights the need for the Supreme Court to overrule the\u00a0Insular Cases, a series of racist Plessy-era decisions that solidified a colonial, unequal framework for governing U.S. territories, including\u00a0Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe\u00a0Insular Cases\u00a0are a stain on our country and cannot be squared with our most basic democratic and constitutional values. It’s long past time that the Supreme Court, President Biden, and Congress all condemn the racist\u00a0Insular Cases\u00a0and the colonial framework they established,\u201d said\u00a0Neil Weare, president and founder of\u00a0Equally American.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe\u00a0United States v. Vaello Madero\u00a0decision underscored that in order to end discrimination against U.S. citizens that reside in the territories, the court must address the backbone of such discriminatory practices by overturning the\u00a0Insular Cases.\u00a0While the Supreme Court has limited the\u00a0Insular Cases’\u00a0reach and stressed that they should not be expanded, courts continue to consider and cite them in cases for the overstated proposition that only \u2018fundamental\u2019 rights apply in the territories. These century-old, racist decisions belong in our history books, not relied upon by the federal government to prevent U.S. citizens in the territories from equitable access to federal safety-net programs like SSI, Medicaid, and food stamps. The rationale in the Insular Cases, and the racist assumptions they rely upon, have no place in our law,\u201d said\u00a0Laura M. Esquivel, vice president of\u00a0Federal Policy and Advocacy, Hispanic Federation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Territory Clause of the Constitution is rooted in imperialism and racism. Court decisions like those for the\u00a0Insular Cases\u00a0have supported this reading and must be rejected once and for all. Other than the original 13 colonies, every state came into the union first as a \u2018territory.\u2019 Their residents, mostly white, were afforded the full protections of the Constitution. But when the U.S. acquired overseas territories at the turn of the 20th\u00a0century, those inhabitants were nonwhite and were deemed \u2018alien races\u2019 and \u2018savage tribes.\u2019 Then the Constitution did not \u2018follow the flag,\u2019 and those residents of territories remain second-class citizens to this day. It\u2019s time to put an end to this distinction, so the principle of equal rights can finally come closer to reality for all,\u201d said\u00a0L\u00eda Fiol-Matta, senior counsel, LatinoJustice PRLDEF.<\/p>\n
Alejandro Ortiz, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Racial Justice Program, stated,\u00a0“The Insular Cases are unabashedly racist and still prevent millions of people\u2014overwhelmingly, people of color\u2014from knowing whether constitutional rights enjoyed by residents of the states apply to them. The Biden administration should publicly condemn the Insular Cases and stop relying on these antiquated and harmful cases in future court filings. The Supreme Court, for its part, should overrule them as soon as it has the opportunity.”<\/p>\n
\u201cSince 2017, Hispanic Federation has been working on the ground in Puerto Rico to support the recovery after Hurricane Maria. Through that time we have definitely identified the systemic federal discrimination established by the insular cases as one of the main barriers for the protection of basic needs, human rights and dignity of the people that live in the archipelago. Regardless of the territorial relationship with the federal government, the federal government must respect our basic dignity and overrule the insular cases\u201d stated\u00a0Maritere Padilla Rodr\u00edguez, director of Policy and Advocacy of Hispanic Federation in Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n
The next few months will determine whether Congress will finally act to extend SSI and other life-saving federal benefits to residents of U.S. territories, whether the Supreme Court will take up a case calling on it to overrule the\u00a0Insular Cases, and whether President Biden will follow through on his commitments to Puerto Rico and prioritize ending this discriminatory treatment once and for all.\u00a0(Equally American)<\/em><\/p>\n