Professor Villazor Publishes Op-ed in Daily Journal

Professor Rose Cuison Villazor published an op-ed on “The overlooked status of U.S. nationals” in the San Francisco edition of the Daily Journal. In the article, she writes that we tend to think of U.S. citizenship in terms of citizens and noncitizens, often ignoring noncitizen nationals: people have the unencumbered right to enter and leave the U.S., can remain here indefinitely without fear of deportation, yet lack certain basic rights of citizens such as the right to vote.

Professor Villazor traces the historical development of the noncitizen national status, which has its roots in racial exclusion laws. As the United States acquired territories in the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico where the population was predominately nonwhite, Congress and the Supreme Court sought to avoid granting the residents full rights as citizens and invented a special category for them. Although Congress eventually granted citizenship to people born in Puerto Rico and Guam, and the Philippines became an independent nation, residents of American Samoa are still noncitizen nationals, Villazor writes. 

Professor Rose Cuison Villazor joined the UC Davis faculty in 2012 from the Maurice A. Deane Law School at Hofstra University.  She has also taught at Columbia Law School and the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.  Professor Villazor teaches and writes in the areas of property law, immigration law, race, and citizenship.