Dear Supreme Court: 3.5 million Americans in territories deserve same federal benefits
What do American citizens living in Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa all have in common? They lack equal access to federal social safety net programs, like Supplemental Security Income and food stamps that lift families and children out of poverty.
By now, you’re thinking that there must be a good explanation for why 3.5 million American citizens – 98% of whom are ethnic minorities – are excluded from these benefits.
Think again.
The exclusion of the territories – and in some cases Washington, D.C., – from federal assistance is directly linked to racist and discredited theories about colonial governance that remain the law of the land. In the early 1900s, the Supreme Court ruled that new territories coming into the union would not be afforded the same constitutional protections as the states in a series of decisions known as the "Insular Cases."
In the Supreme Court’s own words, the newly acquired island territories were not governed by “Anglo-Saxon principles” and their islands were inhabited by “alien races” and “savages.”
One can brush aside those racist caricatures as historical relics, however, the underlying rationale has tangible impacts today. Americans who live in certain territories are ineligible for Social Security Supplemental Income (SSI), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and more. Congress’ haphazard exclusion of the territories from national aid programs is permitted by the Insular Cases, which remain the law of the land.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/dear-supreme-court-35-million-americans-in-territories-deserve-same-federal-benefits/ar-AAQuJrG
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