In October 2023, Tupe Smith got a knock on her door. It was Alaska State Troopers. They were there to arrest her, handcuffing her in front of her two young children. Tupe’s crime? Being a “non-citizen U.S. national" born in American Samoa.
Tupe had recently won a seat on her local school board in Whittier, Alaska, voting in her local elections after being told by local officials she could as a U.S. national. They even told her to check the box for “U.S. citizen” on her voter registration, since there was no box for “non-citizen U.S. national.”
Alaska prosecutors say none of that matters. In Alaska v. Smith, prosecutors argue if Tupe is a “non-citizen U.S. national” she should be convicted on two felony “voter misconduct” charges, each of which carry up to five years in jail.
In September 2024, there was another knock on Tupe’s door. Alaska State Troopers were back. This time it was a full-blown raid. They carried a target list that included Tupe’s husband Michael Pese and nearly two-dozen other American Samoans. They and other American Samoans in Alaska fear they could be arrested too, since for years public officials have told them they could vote in local elections.
The Whittier Raid came less than a month after Anchorage police shot and killed a sixteen-year-old American Samoan girl in a botched response to a family emergency.
The community is in fear over what comes next. Without a vote or a voice, they feel vulnerable and powerless.
Will you stand #TogetherWithTupe? Show your support by signing this petition now!
Have questions? Learn more at TogetherWithTupe.org or contact us at [email protected].
#TogetherWithTupe Petition
Dear Federal, State, Local, and American Samoan Officials,
Tupe Smith is being prosecuted in Alaska because she was born in American Samoa and is not recognized as a U.S. citizen.
This is wrong. No one should be criminally targeted based on where they are born in the United States, including people born in American Samoa.
It is also unconstitutional. People born on U.S. soil, including in American Samoa, have a constitutional and fundamental right to U.S. citizenship that cannot be denied by any government official.
Citizenship is not a threat. Those who signed the American Samoa Deeds of Cession were correct: U.S. citizenship does not mean American Samoans will lose their land, culture, or right to self-determination.
Please stand #TogetherWithTupe and recognize that people born in American Samoa should have the same rights and privileges as people born anywhere under the sovereignty of the United States.
Will you sign?
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