How You Can Lose Your Rights As An American Citizen With A Change Of Address? Part 1

This event is co-sponsored by the Virgin Islands Bar Association. 

This three-part program series examines how your residency and where you live impacts your rights as an American Citizen. Did you know that if you move to a U.S. territory you immediately lose the right to vote for President and can be discriminated against in a range of federal programs? In July, President Biden addressed this problem by declaring “there can be no second-class citizens in the United States of America.” Whether America’s ideals match reality for citizens in U.S. territories will be on the line as the Supreme Court, Congress, and the President all take up these issues in the coming months.

Part 1 – Join special guest Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett, who highlighted for the nation during the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump that “every American has the right to vote—unless you live in a territory.” As the non-voting Delegate for the U.S. Virgin Islands, she represents U.S. citizens that are required to follow all federal laws, but are denied any voting representation in what those laws say. Splitting her childhood between housing projects in Brooklyn and St. Croix, she has risen to be a leading voice on the importance of the rule of law, equality, and justice in America. She will talk about how the second-class treatment of U.S. citizens living in the territories is not just unfair, it is un-American. It is time we have a conversation about America’s colonies problem.

Registration for this program is free for Virgin Islands Bar Association and NYSBA members.