Nationality

[Jonathan Buhacoff]

Intent

To define the concept of nationality to be used consistently in this forum.

Proposal

Nationality is the status of belonging to a particular nation by origin, birth, or naturalization.

If a person is born to travelers or arrives in the country seeking asylum, that person is still considered a foreign national.

The right to nationality mentioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, if defined with the proposed rights framework, would be that a person should neither be required to adopt a new nationality nor deprived of seeking one (if they want to be naturalized with a different nation or if they are stateless). We should no imprison stateless people merely because they are stateless.

If a person is discovered and the person’s origins are unknown, or if a person comes from a country which has been destroyed and is a stateless person, there needs to be a process to at least provide asylum and from there either help the person find a new home either in this country or in another country and join a nation.

Discussion

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, nationality is the status of belonging to a particular nation by origin, birth, or naturalization.

The proposed rights, including the right to fair trial, right to justice, right to equal opportunity, right to equal regulation, and others together imply that in the vast majority of everyday, routine situations, a person’s nationality shouldn’t affect their outcomes when they are in a country that adopts these proposals.

While we fight for the rights of all people who are in the country, we must also demand that everyone must follow the country’s laws when present in the country, regardless of their nationality.

To protect a person’s right to a fair trial when another country demands extradition of a person for crimes they allegedly committed outside of this country, we should invite representatives of that government to come here and sue for extradition in accordance with our due process, and provide them a liaison to inform them of our laws and procedures and assist them with filings and so on. They may already have representatives here if they have an embassy. If they succeed in court, the consequence for the defendant would be extradition. The person’s nationality should not matter in such proceedings. If a citizen of this country or any other country committed a crime elsewhere and then came here, and the other country can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it happened, that person should face the justice system of that country. Of course, if the punishments are extreme in that country compared to our punishments for the same crime, the government should try to negotiate something with the other country.

Comparison to the United Nations:

Article 15 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “Everyone has the right to a nationality.” and “No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.”

If a country adopts the proposed rights and liberties, judging people by their actions and merits and not according to where they were born or who their parents are, nationality should not affect their outcomes at all. It may be the case that there is a correlation between nationality and outcomes because of related factors, such as being born in another country means the person has a different primary language, has learned the local language (English for the United States) as a second or third language, possibly isn’t as fluent, and therefore might have some challenges, but we should not allow nationality to be the cause of unfairness. The laws, rights, and benefits of being here should apply to everyone who is is here, regardless of nationality. If someone wants to belong to a different nationality, the right to travel protects their ability to go there. If they come back, the immigration laws protect our ability to choose who enters and who doesn’t.

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