Why are people born in American Samoa described as U.S. nationals rather than U.S. citizens?

People born in American Samoa are classified as U.S. nationals rather than U.S. citizens because no act of the U.S. Congress has granted them citizenship at birth, unlike individuals born in other U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico, Guam, or the U.S. Virgin Islands.1

Because American Samoa is an unincorporated and unorganized territory, it does not fall under the same statutory framework that confers citizenship to those born in other territories. While U.S. nationals have the right to enter and reside in the United States, their status as non-citizen nationals means they do not possess the same political privileges as U.S. citizens, such as the right to vote in federal elections.123

Legal challenges have been brought to address this distinction, arguing that the Fourteenth Amendment should mandate citizenship for those born in the territory, but the current legal reality remains that citizenship is not automatically conferred by birth in American Samoa without congressional action.1