RELIGION or POLITICS ??? Cont'd.......WHO is a Citizen????

Hello and a great friday to you, too, plus a greater weekend.   Today we continue on the subject of ILLEGALS presented in the MOnthly Newsletter, IMPRIMIS,  published by Hillsdale College and written by Edward  J. Erler, professor  of Political Science at California State University, San Bernadino, CA.


TODAY IS ENTITLED "WHO IS A CITIZEN".......

       Citizenship, of course, does not exist by nature;  it is created by law, and the identification of citizens has always been considered an essential aspect of sovereignty.    After all, the founders of a new nation are not born citizens of the new nation they create.   Indeed, this is true aof all citizens of a new nation -- they are not born into it, but rather become citizens by law.

      Although the Constitution of 1787 mentioned citizens, it did not define citizenship.   It was in 1868 that a definition of citizenship entered the Constitution, with the ratification of the Fourth Amendment.   Here is the familiar language:   "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States wherein they reside".   Thus there are two components to American citizenship: birth or naturalization in the U.S., and being subject fo the jurisdiction of the U.S.

      We have somehow come to believe that anyone born within the geographical limits of the U.S. is automatically subject to the jurisdiction.   But this renders the jurisdiction clause utterly superfluous and without force.  If this has been the intention of the framers of the Fourteenth Amendent, presumably they would simply have said that all persons born or naturalized in the United States are thereby citizens. 

       Indeed, during debate over the amendment, Senator Jacob Howard of Ohio, the author of the citizenship clause, attempted to assure skeptical colleagues that the new language was not intended to make Indians citizens of the U.S. Indians, Howard conceded, were born within the nation's geographical limits, but he steadfastly maintained that they were not subject to its jurisdiction because they owed allegiance to their tribes.  Senator Lyman Trumbull, chairman of the Senate judiciary Committee, rost to support his colleague, arguing that "subject to the jurisdiction hereof" meant "not owing allegiance to anybody else and being subject to the complete jurisdiction of the United States".     Jurisdiction understood as allegiance, Senator Howard interjected, , excludes not only Indians but "persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, {or} who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers."   Thus "subject to the jurisdiction" does not simply mean, as is commonly thought today, subject to American laws or American courts.   It means owing exclusive political allegiance to the U.S. 

       Consider as well that in 1868 , the year the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified, Congress passed the Expatriation Act.   This act permitted American citizens to renounce their allegiance and alienate their citizenship.   This piece of legisation was supported by Senator Howard and other leading architects of the Fouteenth Amendment, and characterized the right of expatriation as "a natural and inherent right of all people, indispensable to the enjoyment of the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."   Like the idea of citizenship, this right of expatriation is wholly incompatable with the common law understanding of perpetual allegiance and subjectship.    One member of the House expressed the general sense of the Congress when he proclaimed: "The old feudal doctrine stated by Blackstone and adopted as part of the common law of England.....is not at war with the theory of our institutions, but is equally at war with every principle of justice and of sound public policy."    The common law established what was characterized as an "indefensible doctrine of indefeasible allegiance,"  a feudal wholly at odds with republic government.


And there you have what so far is an explanation  of you, you, and you received your right of citizenship, and I am not finished yet and y'all ought to be proud of this America, which is in imminent danger of disaster if the general public don't realize quicky that this real threat comes from the Muslim Brotherhod that is behind all this unrest in the middle east.   Make no mistake their ultimate goal is America. 

Anyway, enjoy your weekend and do come back next week and I will continue to feed this blog with worthwhile information for you digestion.   Ta Ta     Cheers      CJ