Empire is when you keep people subjugated against their will. The US is the opposite of an empire.
arrow sharpened this result to a needle point in the 01940s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow%27s_impossibility_theore...
the nature of government is that it keeps people, individually, subjugated against their will; police that can only arrest people who want to be arrested, prisons who can only imprison people who want to be imprisoned, or armies that can only beat armies that want to be beaten, are not effective police, prisons, or armies
(democracy is still better than dictatorship or other forms of monarchy)
people are forgetting their history
Now, here's the funny thing. Lots of people who hold the view that the US imperialistic, find various excuses for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Some even go as far as claiming that the US aid to Ukraine is nothing but some further proof of the US imperialism.
I'd be very curious to hear where you are on that.
I can speak to my experience in Hawaii (that is the only place on the list I have lived). There is a significant and vocal minority of Native Hawaiians (and supporters) that would very much like to have their country restored. The Kingdom of Hawaii was illegally overthrown and the US apologized for its direct involvement in the overthrow: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-107/pdf/STATUTE-....
To the point of preference of staying a part of the United States, the majority in all of the Territories (and the State of Hawaii), I assume, would prefer to remain in the United States, yes. However, that is a disingenuous question. The most recent territories have been a part of the United States for almost 100 years, that is, several generations. What else would these populations be in favor of? Indeed, the people of Hawaii, given a choice in 1875, would have preferred the reinstatement of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
That to me shows a lot of enthusiasm for joining the US.
But of course, 60 years later, you can always find some vocal minority with a nostalgia for an idyllic past that never existed.
Those you mention do not want to leave the United States.