This comes under the heading of why the bleep are they doing this —
Children born to US service members and government employees overseas will no longer be automatically considered citizens of the United States, according to policy alert issued by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Wednesday.
Previously, children born to US citizen parents were considered to be “residing in the United States,” and therefore would be automatically given citizenship under Immigration and Nationality Act 320.
Now, children born to US service members and government employees, such as those born in US military hospitals or diplomatic facilities, will not be considered as residing in the US, changing the way that they potentially receive citizenship.
In other words, if you are a U.S. citizen and career military and you and your family are stationed in Germany, and your baby is born at, say, the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, which is entirely owned and operated by the United States military, that baby is not automatically considered a U.S. citizen? That’s not how it’s ever worked before. And even if the baby eventually becomes a citizen, he or she isn’t eligible to run for president. That would have eliminated the late John McCain. Maybe that’s the point, even though his being dead kind of took him out of politics..
And what about the many people born overseas to U.S. diplomatic and military personnel who have been skipping through life presumed to be U.S. citizens? Do they lose their citizenship now?
I don’t understand what purpose this serves. It seems to me that if I were career military and I planned to have a family I might have second throughts about re-enlisting.
Trump has nothing but contempt for women in the US State Dept. or women in the US military. The presumption is that only men serve the country overseas. A woman in the US military should resign in disgrace if she gets pregnant. This is a move to take us socially back to the 50s.
The purpose it serves is that the Big Man gets pleasure from other people's pain. That's what our world is all about nowadays.
So don't ask why.
This news was distributed very poorly, but it is getting corrected. Here is a link to an official explainer:
https://www.uscis.gov/news/fact-sheets/uscis-policy-manual-update
Relevant quote:
For children of citizens who lived in the US for 5+ years, and then went overseas, there is no change. It is only about all the other possible circumstances.
Thanks for the update. That isn’t what was originally reported. Somebody must have realized the screwup. This is the most incompetent administration ever.
Well, that's what civilians had to do, but it also means that before his 18th birthday the kid also has to appear before a citizenship official and swear in as a citizen. Not sure if he/she can do it as part of registering for the draft (does everybody still remember ALL Americans are required to register after their 18th birthday?). As I understand it, if he/she fails to do that they have to go through the whole naturalization process, take the test — and possibly fail it and be denied. I think this is a Parkinson's Law thing, some jamoke in Customs and Immigration Bureau wants to increase the size of his kingdom and proposed a change to policy that requires him/her to supervise a lot more people.
maha,
There is no purpose, except the following:
"The cruelty IS THE purpose!"
And the purpose IS the cruelty!
That's it!
Maybe add, "Whatever pisses-off the Libtards!"
(This is all Conservatism has devolved into).
Don't be fooled by the "correction". A policy like this would never have been acceptable in a normal government. But this is Stephen Miller's government now, trump is just his mouthpiece. So even if there are "conditions" that would allow such children to be considered citizens the very fact there is *any* restriction on this is criminal and cruel.
It is Miller's plan, he'll shove it slowly down our throats incremental bit by incremental bit until we realize he is poisoning us and by then it will be too late. If/when they arrest trump after January 2021 they sure as hell ought to arrest a hell of a lot of his brain cells, because they aren't in his head, they reside inside of people like Pence and Miller and Barr and Bolton and Conway and Ross and a host of other who are destroying this country every bit as much as trump is, and not apologizing one bit for doing so.
Add the above to the most cruel action by the idiot administration–the deportations of sick children:
https://www.irishcentral.com/news/deferred-medical-action-boston-irish
I will refer to him now as Donald Adolf Hitler Trump. He is disgusting beyond words.
The point is to attack "birthright citizenship" via any means necessary. That's a big bugaboo of the right – ref: anchor babies, etc..
It's the Kobach rule, if applied only those with an R by their name is a legal American voter. You got that one right.
This is a few more cuts in the death by a thousand cuts approach to killing off birthright citizenship, to normalize the concept of people who would traditionally be citizens having to petition for it. Whats worse, leaving the decision in the hands of someone else to decide, one way or the other. Conceptually Miller may be the "intellectual" engine behind all of this, but as a bigoted and racist idiot, this is Trump's desire.
The end game is to Make America White Again.
NPR coverage this evening scared the crap outta me. They were interviewing a (retired?) Army Major (who had position in Obama Admin?) about a different aspect: this will make it harder for members of US Military to get Citizenship.
Yes, that's stupid, mean, etc.
But what bugged me was: why do we have people in our Military who aren't (already) Citizens? To me, that's a terrible sign of Empire, of the end of our Republic.
Pardon my optimism, but Trump's insane policies are inadvertently blowing holes in the curtain which has let us pretend that the USA is OK. We are not OK. We've let "our" government become a very dangerous thing in the world.
If the Democrats try to paper over the big problems – global warming, war crimes, money in politics, etc, etc, etc – they won't win enough to do anything about it all.
The comments that the new rule is part of a tactic to justify attacking birthright citizenship feels about right. The clarification feels like typical Trumpian doublespeak. Trump wants a rule that will allow barriers on a subjective basis, while a different rule in the same book says everything is the same as before. We have seen this before – with child separation at the border. First, it's deliberate as a 'deterrent'. The publicity goes bad and Trump 'ends' child separation (except it doesn't end) and the doublespeak is "Well, Obama did it first." Frankly, I am doubtful that the policy isn't the first version – it just looked bad as it might be applied to the children of veterans.
Regarding non-US-citizens in the military – it's been that way for a long time – in some ways back to the Revolutionary War. (General LaFayette ring a bell?) I'm not sure there's ever been a time the US military wasn't partially immigrant. I was in the US Navy back in the 70's and worked with a Filippino in my shop. It's a way of jumping to the head of the line (I think) in getting citizenship with a price tag of four years military service.
Off Topic – one of the highest compliments I got was to visit Manilla with the guy and meet his family. Most of the guys in the shop were racist to some degree and regarded the women as hos and the men as idiots. Even as a teen, I had a little class.
Good points – this is nothing new, in history of the World, nor the USA.
Nothing against non-citizens who join the US military; I'm just fed up with how "we" use that military.
Yeah, when I was stationed in Vietnam I was surprised to learn that immigrants, legal or illegal, are subject to the draft. I knew before, when I was in the Air Force stationed in Korea, that Puerto Ricans are, because they're American Citizens (bet Trump doesn't know that), but the immigrants surprised me. Just goes to show they're subject to the jurisdiction of our laws, even if they aren't citizens (yet).
Definitely trying to end birthright citizenship and end noncitizen soldiers or have to be citizen 5 years before the birth abroad.
Deporting VETERANS and not allowing them back.
Deporting non citizens here for medical treatment to die.
Also trying to clear cut and mine the Tongass.
If it is death and destruction, this administration loves it.
Wanting to stop military aid to Ukraine under attack by Russia.
Mattis says he is suffering from dementia and personality disorder. So the sickos pompeo Barr miller bolton do whatever they want to please him.
Episode #47982 of Imagine if Obama Did This.
Have any of the right-wing "Support Tha Troopz, Muh Flag, Muh Freedumbz" crowd spoken up on this?