CNN:

The Supreme Court declined Monday to take up a case asking whether those born in American Samoa are entitled to birthright citizenship under the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.

The court’s decision to stay out of the matter will come as a disappointment to many who wanted the justices to take the case and overturn a series of opinions from a century ago – the so-called Insular Cases – that have been widely discredited as odious remnants of a colonial past because they were grounded in racism towards the residents of territories.

John Fitisemanu, the lead plaintiff in the case, was born in American Samoa but now lives in Utah. He holds a US passport and pays his taxes, but he is considered a “non-citizen US National” under immigration law. He has sought to vote in federal and state elections but has never been able to do so.