Why Americans should think twice about dual citizenship – LA Times

2015/01/08 Leave a comment

Editorial in the LA Times on dual citizenship:

Yet there’s no question that dual citizenship poses practical problems both for those who possess it and for the government. The U.S. State Department discourages U.S. citizens from retaining or applying for citizenship in another country because “dual nationality may limit U.S. government efforts to assist nationals abroad. The country where a dual national is located generally has a stronger claim to that persons allegiance.” The department also warns that “dual citizenship can present a security issue whether to permit access to classified information which affects recruitment, employment and assignments.” In some cases, dual citizenship could disqualify an applicant for a sensitive position with the CIA or the State Department.

The complexities and complications raised by dual citizenship are not enough to justify amending the Constitution to overrule the Supreme Court. But we agree with the State Department that U.S. citizens should think twice about professing allegiance to another country. Moreover, by reinforcing the doubts that some hold about the loyalty of immigrants — some U.S. citizens, for instance, fume when Mexican Americans display the Mexican flag at Cinco de Mayo rallies — the persistence of dual citizenship may make it politically more difficult to secure a path to citizenship for immigrants who came here illegally.

In questioning dual citizenship, we aren’t saying that immigrants must forget their countries of birth or repudiate their language or culture. In large parts of the southwestern United States, U.S. citizens of Mexican descent frequently travel back and forth between the two countries, enriching the cultures and economies of both countries. Rather, we believe that citizenship in this country should be an expression of allegiance to it, enforced not by a pledge but rather by a desire to be part of this country. Dual citizenship may have a place in American society, but the goal should be the cultivation of undivided Americans, proud of their heritage and committed to this nation.

Why Americans should think twice about dual citizenship – LA Times.

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The birthright citizenship debate – LA Times Editorial

2014/10/28 Leave a comment

LA Times editorial in support of birthright citizenship.

No numbers or estimates, however, on how many cases of “birth tourism,” although USA has greater concerns over illegal immigrants living in the USA, rather than the “birth tourists:”

Birthright citizenship is an emblem of equality and inclusion. Many other countries confer citizenship on the basis of bloodlines, what the law calls jus sanguinis. That makes sense when nationality is conceived of primarily in terms of ancestry or tribe or race or ethnicity.

But in America, a nation of immigrants, citizenship is defined differently. That principle was established when the 14th Amendment was adopted, and it should not be tinkered with today in an effort to keep out unwanted immigrants. Indeed, the decision to grant citizenship to everyone born on U.S. soil was made in part so that members of particular minority groups would not be required to win the favor of the majority to claim the privileges of American citizenship.

Birthright citizenship provides a clear standard that sweeps away questions about whether someone has the proper ethnicity or antecedents to be an American. There are too many examples in history of people being victimized because of who their parents were. There is no good reason to add to them.

The birthright citizenship debate – LA Times.

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