Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Civil rights organizations asked President Joe Biden to disavow centuries-old Supreme Court decisions that were infused with racist language and gave the government permission to treat Puerto Ricans and others in U.S. territory differently from other Americans.

American Civil Liberties Union led the thirteen groups and wrote to Attorney General Merrick Grland urging him to condemn publicly a number of decisions made in the early 1900s known as the Insular Cases.

They cited Biden’s executive order of January 20,21 in which he promised to promote racial equality. Others who signed the letter were the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under law and Hispanic Federation. This is a Latino advocacy group.

These rulings were issued in 1901 after the purchase of territories overseas following the 1898 Spanish-American War. They established that Puerto Ricans as well as those who live in other U.S. territories did not have the same rights in accordance with the U.S. Constitution, unlike people living in U.S. States.

A Supreme Court justice was referring to “alien races inhabiting territories” at that time. Another supported the idea of the United States acquiring “an unknown island” in which a uncivilized race could live.

The activists wrote that they could not reconcile the Justice Department’s continued embrace of Insular Cases with the administration’s promise to affirmatively promote equity and racial justice.

According to activists, the Justice Department approached them in November’s Supreme Court oral argument to determine if Congress can ban Puerto Ricans form the federal Supplemental security Income (SSI) program which pays benefits to blind and low-income people.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, acting for the Administration, asked Curtis Gannon, Deputy Solicitor-General, about its position regarding the cases.

“Why don’t we admit that the Insular Cases weren’t correctly decided?” Gorsuch asked.

Gannon said that while the rhetoric and reasoning there was clearly offensive, the Supreme Court had not to speak about these cases when it decided the question on SSI benefits. The activists claimed they missed an opportunity to decry them.

Laura Esquivel (Vice President of Federal Policy and Advocacy at the Hispanic Federation), said, “It’s almost like there are laws that don’t prohibit lynching.” The U.S. government would not want those laws to be left. They would not like to repeal them.

Alejandro Ortiz of the ACLU, a lawyer for the ACLU, stated that Biden’s administration would have an easy time condemning Insular Cases since it is now clear that their racism was underlying them.

Ortiz stated, “This one example of systematic racism is where racism has built into how the federal government treats those who reside in territories, who are overwhelming people of colour,” Ortiz continued.

In another case, the Insular cases could be more prominent in determining whether persons born in American Samoa or another territory are entitled to full U.S citizenship upon their birth.

The United States has five territories, Guam and three Virgin Islands. With 3 million inhabitants, Puerto Rico is the largest. Puerto Ricans are long complaining that Caribbean residents, who are U.S. citizens, have been treated badly.

Biden’s Justice Department argued that the appeal originally filed by Republican President Donald Trump’s Administration was not heard. However, it urged Congress to grant SSI benefits for Puerto Rico.

The oral argument indicated that it was not clear how the Supreme Court would rule. A decision is expected by June end.

Jose Luis Vaello Marcelo-Madero, a Puerto Rican resident, will be favored by the court. The benefit would allow more than 300,000 Puerto Rican residents to become eligible, at an estimated $2 billion per year cost.