American Samoa

A criminal case in Alaska involving nearly a dozen people born in American Samoa is highlighting concerns about birthright citizenship and voting by people who are not U.S. citizens, issues that have been prominent in the early months of President Donald Trump’s second term. American Samoa is the only U.S. territory where residents are not automatically granted citizenship by virtue of having been born on American soil.

The Trump administration says it will consider selling leases to extract minerals from the seabed off the South Pacific island of American Samoa. It's a potential first step in a wider industry push to allow deep-sea mining that environmentalists oppose because they say it could irreparably harm marine ecosystems.

Kitty Simonds of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council presents the viewpoint of the longline fishers who will be allowed to resume commercial fishing in waters at least 50 miles offshore of the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument.

Researchers recently found that 60% of children and teens in American Samoa had been infected with dengue — a troubling statistic, since getting dengue more than once can be deadly. HPR talked with Sandra Kiplagat, the CDC epidemic intelligence service officer who led the research.

Researchers from UH and the East-West Center created the online Hawaiʻi Climate Data Portal in 2022. They use the information to inform policy decisions on climate risks and more.

A regional fishery council is warning that the Biden administration’s plan to block off U.S. territorial waters in the Pacific would end American Samoa’s tuna canning industry. HPR’s Derrick Malama has more in the Pacific News Minute.

American Samoa's representative in Congress is raising urgent concerns about President Biden's initiation of a new National Marine Sanctuary in the Central Pacific. With the Pacific News Minute, HPR's Derrick Malama reports.

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal seeking to give people born in American Samoa U.S. citizenship. The court passed up an invitation to overturn a series of decisions dating back to 1901 known as the Insular Cases, replete with racist and anti-foreign rhetoric.

Without Roe, Guam could revert to an abortion ban dating to 1990. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the law unconstitutional in 1992, but it has never been repealed.

The prime minister of Samoa has placed the small Pacific nation into a 48-hour lockdown after 15 passengers on a flight from Australia tested positive for COVID-19. The infected passengers were among 73 who arrived from Brisbane on Wednesday.