75-year US resident denied US citizenship

[Tidewater]

This is a strange one. Not sure this fits into the Trump VIII thread, since Trump had nothing to do with this.
Man Denied Birthright Citizenship Over Father’s Diplomat Status
Moncada’s father was working for Nicaragua’s permanent mission to the United Nations in 1950, the year he was born. The US government in 2018 reviewed his father’s diplomatic status, and concluded he’d served as an attaché when Moncada was born. An attaché holds diplomatic immunity, which extends to children. The government revoked Moncada’s passport and informed him he wasn’t a birthright citizen. ... The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit wrote that the government’s evidence proves Moncada was immune [from prosecution] at the time of his birth, and thus was not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States (even though the US have issued him five passports over the course of his life).

Weird case.

 

[dtgreg]

This is a strange one. Not sure this fits into the Trump VIII thread, since Trump had nothing to do with this.
Man Denied Birthright Citizenship Over Father’s Diplomat Status
Moncada’s father was working for Nicaragua’s permanent mission to the United Nations in 1950, the year he was born. The US government in 2018 reviewed his father’s diplomatic status, and concluded he’d served as an attaché when Moncada was born. An attaché holds diplomatic immunity, which extends to children. The government revoked Moncada’s passport and informed him he wasn’t a birthright citizen. ... The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit wrote that the government’s evidence proves Moncada was immune [from prosecution] at the time of his birth, and thus was not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States (even though the US have issued him five passports over the course of his life).

Weird case.

Easy case. He's brown in Trump's America.

 

[crimsonaudio]

Easy case. He's brown in Trump's America.

Yes, with the support of that bastion of far-right thought, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

 

[dtgreg]

Yes, with the support of that bastion of far-right thought, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Look, the Ninth Circuit is following the letter of the law but let's look at the big picture.

 

[Tidewater]

Look, the Ninth Circuit is following the letter of the law but let's look at the big picture.

I bet the guys at the Nicaraguan embassy would look at him and say, "Who the heck are you?"

 

[Tidewater]

And, if Nicaragua acknowledged his Nicaraguan citizenship, the second thing the Nicaraguan authorities might say to him is, "Bad news. You owe 50 years of back taxes."

 

[Isaiah 63:1]

This is a hard case:

• The law is clear. I had an acquaintance in high school named Abbas who was born in the US to an Iranian diplomat parent. When the Iranian revolution occurred he sought US birthright citizenship to avoid having to return to Iran after school, and was denied. The premise in both cases (born in the US but to non-citizen parents who enjoyed diplomatic immunity) is the same. And yet...
• The human element is also clear. Roberto Moncada has had multiple US passports over several decades. This is heart-breaking.

The solution to this without any constitutional implications that I can see would be class-based relief by statute. Congress could legislate broadly: “All persons born in the United States to parents with diplomatic immunity who were mistakenly treated as citizens by the federal government [not sure what the test would be] for X years or more shall be deemed naturalized citizens effective with the first date of [whatever the test is]."

If I were in congress I'd file a bill to this effect yesterday.