An American National, But Not a Citizen(翻译)

The United States is made up of 50 states, the District of Columbia and 16 territories. Five of these territories are permanently inhabited.
美国是由50个州、哥伦比亚特区以及16处领地组成的。其中5处领地长期有人居住。

They are the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa. More than four million people live in them.
它们分别是波多黎各联邦、美属维尔京群岛、关岛、北马里亚纳群岛联邦和美属萨摩亚，有超过四百万人居住于此。

Except for American Samoa, people born in these territories automatically become U.S. citizens. They have many of the same rights as other U.S. citizens; however, they may not vote for president, and they do not pay federal taxes.
除美属萨摩亚外，其它这些领地出生的人都自动成为美国公民。他们具备同其他美国公民相同的很多权利，然而他们不具备总统投票权，也不缴纳联邦税。

People who live in American Samoa are U.S. nationals but are not automatically given birthright citizenship. In other words, they do not automatically become U.S. citizens at birth.
美属萨摩亚居民属于美国国民，但是不会自动获得出生公民权。换句话说，他们不会在出生时自动成为美国公民。

American Samoans can apply to become naturalized citizens, but the process is lengthy and costly. In addition, they must live in the U.S. for three months before they can apply. Then they must stay in the U.S. for months or even years while their application is being processed. During that time, they may not hold a job that requires U.S. citizenship.
美属萨摩亚人可以申请成为入籍公民，但是这个过程相当漫长且代价不菲。此外，他们必须在美国居住三个月才能申请。然后在申请处理期间，他们必须在美国呆上数月甚至数年。在此期间，他们不能从事要求美国公民身份的职业。

A debate about citizenship
公民身份之争

Some American Samoans believe the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution already gives them citizenship. Section 1 of the Amendment says, in part:
一些美属萨摩亚人认为，宪法第十四修正案已经赋予他们公民权。该修正案第一节的部分内容如下：

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside."
“所有在美国出生或归化美国并受其管辖的人，都是美国及其所居住州的公民。

In 2013, some American Samoans used the amendment to argue for citizenship. They asked a federal district court judge to order that they be given birthright citizenship. But the judge refused.
2013年，一些美属萨摩亚人利用该修正案争取公民权。他们要求联邦地区法院法官判决他们获得出生公民权，但是被法官驳回。

They appealed the decision. But, a three-judge federal appeals court panel also refused to grant American Samoans birthright citizenship. The panel said only Congress, not the courts, had the power to make rules for territories.
他们对此判决提起上诉，由三名法官组成的联邦上诉法院专家小组也拒绝授予美属萨摩亚人出生公民权。

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of that ruling. It did not say why. But the justices seemed to be saying a ruling the Supreme Court made in 1901 should not be changed.
今年6月，美国最高法院拒绝听取对该判决的上诉，并且未给出原因。但是法官们似乎认为不应该改变最高法院在1901年做出的裁决。

At that time, the Supreme Court considered a series of cases about how the territories won by the United States in the Spanish-American War should be governed. It ruled 5-4 that people in those territories did not have full constitutional rights, even if they are U.S. citizens. The majority said only Congress -- not courts or even the Constitution -- could give people in the territories full rights.
当时，最高法院审理了一系列关于美国在美西战争中赢得的领土如何统治的案件。最高法院以5比4的票数裁定，这些领土上的人民不具备完全的宪法权利，即使他们是美国公民。最高法院的多数派认为，只有国会才能赋予这些领土上的人民完全的权利，而不是法庭乃至宪法。

Since then, Congress has given birthright citizenship to people born in Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands.
自那时起，国会给波多黎各、关岛、美属维京群岛以及北马里亚纳群岛出生的人赋予了出生公民权。

Many writers, professors and constitutional law professors disagreed with the Supreme Court's decision earlier this year not to hear the appeal. They said people should not be governed unless they can fully take part in the decisions of a government.
许多撰稿人、教授和宪法法学教授不赞成最高法院今年早些时候决定不听取上诉。他们说，除非人们能够充分参与政府的决定，否则就不应该统治他们。

And many said the 1901 Supreme Court decision, which spoke about "savages" and "alien" and "uncivilized" races, is both embarrassing and racist. They believe American Samoans, like people born in the other four populated territories, should be given automatic citizenship.
许多人表示，最高法院1901年的裁决谈到了野蛮人、外侨和不文明种族，这既是愚蠢的，又是种族主义。他们认为美属萨摩亚人应该像其它4处人口稠密的领土出生的人们一样自动成为美国公民。

What does American Samoa say?
美属萨摩亚的态度

The government of American Samoa disagreed with those who wanted birthright citizenship. It said it did not want any change to be made in the current policy. It said "the people of Samoa are happy with this situation."
美属萨摩亚政府反对这些想获得出生公民权的人士。该政府表示不希望现行政策有任何变化，并称，“萨摩亚人民满足于现状。”

One reason the government of American Samoa is not seeking birthright U.S. citizenship is because of land ownership. It told the Supreme Court that if the U.S. Constitution applied fully to the territory, laws that stop non-Samoans from buying land could be threatened. Currently, more than 90 percent of the territory's land is owned communally.
美属萨摩亚政府不寻求美国公民权的原因之一是土地所有权。该政府对美国最高法院表示，如果美国宪法充分适用于该领地，防止非萨摩亚人购买土地的法律可能就会受到威胁。目前，该领地90%以上的土地是公有的。

Some legal experts disagreed with the territorial government. They said land ownership rights were separate from citizenship rights.
一些法律专家不认同该领地政府。他们表示，土地所有权和公民权是分开的。

In any case, the territorial government believes American Samoans should decide for themselves in a referendum whether they want to automatically become U.S. citizens. It says if they do, they should then ask Congress to change the law.
总之，该领地政府认为美属萨摩亚人应该由全民公投来决定他们是否想自动成为美国公民。如果确实如此，他们届时会要求美国国会修改法律。