What are the United States protectorates?
As you may know, every act of Congress has a definition section which lists how that act defines “United States” or “State” for the purposes of that act. As the Federal legislator, the Congress may define either or both of those terms to include all of the U.S. insular areas or just some. For example, the Congress has defined Federal immigration laws as excluding in nearly all instances American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Midway, Johnston and Wake Atolls, Baker, Howland, Jarvis and Navassa Islands and Kingman Reef but including the several States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Here is another example: the Congress has legislated that the U.S. customs territory includes only the several States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. However, all the insular areas with locally elected governments (Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands) receive Federal domestic assistance more or
