Loving America means loving Guam

By Jordan Lawrence Pauluhn

I was not born in Guam, but Guam is my forever home. I was talking with a friend of mine who has taken me in like her son, Donna Muña Quinata, about what it means to be Guamanian. She constantly reminds me that home is not just where you lay your hat, it’s where you lay your heart. My heart is right here.

For as long as I can remember, I have been proud to be an American. I grew up attending every Fourth of July firework show with my family. Even the one year my whole family got sick (except for me), I made sure to hitch a ride with a friend to make it to the marching band show and firework display. I have recently been working on passing this tradition on to my own family. A tradition that celebrates freedom and life well-lived.

Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va) recently declared on Facebook: “I am proud to be the leader in the fight to end birthright citizenship in the American territories!”

When I looked through his political positions, I found many things that I agree with Mr. Griffith on: reducing the tax burden on Americans, securing Second Amendment rights, and beefing up enforcement of illegal immigration.

While there are a few issues where I respectfully depart from him, on the issue of birthright citizenship, he is unqualifiedly wrong. Mr. Griffith’s Facebook post attached a Fox News article referring to the CNMI, Guam, and the other territories as a “tropical maternity ward.”

As the former attorney for Guam Memorial Hospital (the only Guam hospital with a maternity ward), I can assure you that the vast majority of the births in Guam are by our island’s own women. Guam averages 8 births per day. (The women enduring the pains of childbirth, especially in our remote paradise, are our true maga’hågas). 

Children of parents with foreign citizenship occasionally arrive into this world within the border of the territories, but this fear is overblown. Most pregnant foreigners are in Guam chasing the Korean “babymoon” trend–a pillar of our tourism industry.

Koreans and other cultures take these trips because they believe a baby is shaped in utero by the sights and sounds a mother experiences. There is even a Korean term taegyo, meaning prenatal education. Most expectant mothers are here to enjoy the pleasures of our island paradise, not anchor a baby. Guam primarily delivers Guam babies.

However, the most staggering part of Mr. Griffith’s proposal is the immediate negative impact it would have on national security. Guam’s population includes a total defense-related community of nearly 25,000 people, 10,000 of whom are active-duty military. About 1 in 8 adults in Guam are veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Under Mr. Griffith’s H.R. 9724, “End Birthright Citizenship for Territories Act,” the citizenship status of children born to all these service members and defense personnel would be cast into extreme doubt. Military and defense personnel may no longer accept assignments in or wish to be stationed in Guam.

The law will face valid challenges to its constitutionality. Unless Congress is willing to repeal the Organic Act and cede control of Guam, the island is clearly “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States. The true question should be how do we enforce our existing immigration laws, not how do we further alienate or marginalize strategically important parts of the United States.

Guam can do a better job of partnering with the federal government to strengthen passport control, expand the use of biometrics, and keep individuals out who do not qualify for lawful access to the United States.

Unconstitutional and alarmist measures like H.R. 9724 and our local government’s fake deportation program actually make it harder to track and keep out those who mean us harm. Guam needs real immigration enforcement and real deportations with the support of the federal government.

Aside from the claims that the law is unconstitutional and the understandable accusations of racism hurled at Mr. Griffith, the House Bill would make America less safe.

Guam is often considered the tip of the spear. We are both the edge of the American empire and the front line in the coming days of the geopolitical struggles and fights with China and Russia.

The end of birthright citizenship in Guam and the other territories would mean that people born in the territories that the U.S. relies on for strategic reasons would no longer owe allegiance to America or the President of the United States (who is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces). H.R. 9724 would create an international political and legal vacuum that would allow China and other non-Western powers to more easily exert control over Guam and the rest of the Pacific.

Before Mr. Griffith, or anyone else, wants to strip Guam or the other territories of citizenship, they would be wise to consider the fallout. They may also want to visit these places. If Mr. Griffith visited Guam, despite his proposal to subjugate Guamanians, he would be welcomed like family (it is what our island does).

If he came here and talked with trusted local leaders, he’d see that Guam is one of the most hospitable, family-oriented, service-minded, and dare I say patriotic places that have ever fallen under the jurisdiction of the United States.

I will end with the words of my favorite American song that I learned from my parents on Independence Day (which also happens to be my daughter’s birthday): “And I'm proud to be an American, Where at least I know I'm free, And I won't forget the men who died, Who gave that right to me, And I'd gladly stand up, Next to you and defend her still today, 'Cause there ain't no, doubt I love this land, God bless the USA.”

I am happy to have a personal conversation with Mr. Griffith about all that Guam has to offer. If he knows someone from Guam, it won’t be hard to find my number. It’s a standing invitation.

Yes, Mr. Griffith, Guam is the USA. Our men and women bled and died for freedom too. I stand up next to them. I love the USA and I love Guam.

Jordan Lawrence Pauluhn is a licensed attorney and a 2026 candidate for attorney general of Guam.

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