Under this colonial legal framework, the United States claims near-unlimited power to govern people in the Territories without any basis in the “consent of the governed.” Below are some egregious ongoing examples in each Territory, which are often shared cross-territorially.

• Puerto Rico: The unelected Puerto Rico Financial Oversight and Management Board, whose members are named by the President of the U.S, has governing powers over Puerto Rico, has veto power over any governmental contract, and has full control over any decision related to Puerto Rico’s budget or tax structure. The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly defended the structure and powers of the Board over legal challenges from people in Puerto Rico.

• Guam: The U.S. military claims ownership of nearly a third of the island, with an ongoing military buildup that is massive in scale. Yet the people of Guam have little to no say in any of this, despite the significant economic, social, and cultural challenges it creates for their community. Their very lives are at risk, with China’s DF-26 ballistic missile labeled the “Guam killer” and North Korea regularly testing ballistic missiles that threaten Guam.  

• U.S. Virgin Islands: The people of the U.S. Virgin Islands are currently undertaking their Sixth Constitutional Convention. Under federal law, Virgin Islanders have no power to create their own constitution without the approval of the President and Congress. That consent has been withheld in the past and presents a major roadblock for moving forward. 

• American Samoa: In 2024, Congress delegated its full “plenary power” over American Samoa to the Secretary of the Interior. Now, the Department of the Interior is seeking to impose Deep Seabed Mining off its waters. After American Samoa’s elected leaders unanimously opposed these efforts, rather than stop, Interior acted to nearly double the size of the proposed area it could lease out for Deep Seabed Mining, all without sufficient scientific evidence on the environmental impacts of this practice or any financial benefits to the people of American Samoa.

• Northern Mariana Islands: Fifty years after the United States promised to support self-determination and self-government in its Covenant with the people of the NMI, the U.S. regularly takes unilateral action over the NMI’s objections. The U.S. has taken control over submerged lands claimed by the NMI, stripped local control over immigration, removed power over local wage rates, prohibited local cultural practices, and is now seeking to impose Deep Sea Mining in the waters off their islands, regardless of what the people there want.