I extend greetings to the entire Virgin Islands community in observance of Holy Week. The upcoming days are of great symbolic, historic, and religious significance, and provide families and friends throughout the territory the opportunity to engage in many local traditions.

In reverence of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter, and Passover, we recognize the importance of unwavering faith and recognize that there is strength in our diversity, even as we observe so much chaos on the national and world scene, fueled by intolerance. In the spirit of community and togetherness, I pray for God’s protection over everyone and that time spent with family, friends, and loved ones, will be both joyful and meaningful. I recognize that many of our residents on St. Croix will be participating in the camping traditions that have been enjoyed for many generations. I wish for those participating in camping activities that they have a safe and enjoyable time as they enjoy our serene natural environment. Please look out for one another, especially the children who we expect to carry on these traditions and who we hope will learn to treat our natural resources with love and care. I wish everyone a safe and blessed Holy Week. Happy Easter to all.

Congresswoman Stacey E. Plaskett released the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments today in Trump v. Barbara, a landmark case in which she joined current and former elected officials and judges from the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa in filing an amicus brief urging the Court to affirm that birthright citizenship is a constitutional guarantee that no executive order can override.

At the center of this case is whether the Trump administration can rewrite the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause to deny birthright citizenship to children born in the United States to certain immigrant parents. The amicus brief, signed by leaders across the political spectrum with varying views on territorial status, makes clear that whatever their differences, they stand united against any executive branch attempt to unilaterally redefine who counts as a citizen. The brief draws a troubling comparison to the period following the Spanish-American War of 1898, when the McKinley administration tried to redefine “in the United States” to exclude people born in Puerto Rico, Guam, and other newly acquired territories. The Supreme Court’s deference to the political branches on that question gave rise to the Insular Cases — a legal framework that left millions of territorial residents with statutory, rather than constitutionally protected, citizenship. The effects of that decision are still being felt today. American Samoans, for example, are still classified under federal law as “non-citizen” U.S. nationals — a designation that has cost people military security clearances, created wrongful voter registration complications, and blocked full civic participation. The brief warns that allowing the administration’s executive order to stand would deepen that history, handing the executive branch sweeping power over one of the most fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution. “For the people of the U.S. Territories, including the U.S. Virgin Islands, this fight is deeply personal. For generations, we have struggled to have our citizenship and our rights fully recognized. The Supreme Court’s long avoidance of the birthright citizenship question in the territories has left our residents in an unacceptable state of legal limbo — and now we are watching that same dangerous logic weaponized to strip citizenship from children born on American soil. The Fourteenth Amendment is unambiguous: Those born under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the United States are Americans. No executive order can change that. The Constitution does not bend to the political preferences of any administration, and no president holds the power to rewrite it by executive order. I am proud to stand alongside leaders across our territories to make that case before the Supreme Court on April 1st,” said Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett. BACKGROUND: The amicus brief was coordinated by Right to Democracy, co-founded by Neil C. Weare, and filed on February 26, 2026, by co-counsel Patricio Martinez Llompart and the team at KKL LLP. The signatures urge the Court not to repeat the errors of the past by deferring to the political branches on the scope of the Citizenship Clause. Instead, they call on the Court to affirm, unambiguously, that birthright citizenship is a constitutional right — one that belongs to all persons born under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the United States, and right that cannot be narrowed by executive or legislative action.