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The Romney Eligibility Question
WILL HE HAVE TO PROVE IT?
The Post & Email
Paul R. Hollrah, ©2012
2/1/2012
Excerpts:
"According to Wikipedia, "Americans who have dual citizenship do not lose their United States citizenship unless they renounce it officially."
"A December 18, 2011 article in the Free Republic, by Larry Walker, Jr., raises many interesting questions about Mitt Romney’s status as a “natural born” citizen, as required under Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution.
The principal questions raised by Walker are these: First, at the time of Mitt Romney’s birth, was his father a United States Citizen? Secondly, inasmuch as Romney’s father, George W. Romney, was born in Mexico, did his father become a naturalized citizen prior to Mitt’s birth? And finally, as the son of a Mexican-born father, was Mitt Romney born with dual US-Mexican citizenship?
These are all interesting questions. However, in order to address them with some degree of logic it might be useful to first establish a few facts of the Romney family history, working backwards from the present.
Mitt Romney was born in Detroit, Michigan on March 12, 1947. His parents were George W. and Lenore LaFount Romney, who married in Salt Lake City on July 2, 1931. At the time of his birth, Mitt’s father served as general manager of the Automobile Manufacturers Association, in Detroit.
Mitt’s mother, Lenore Romney, was born in Logan, Utah on November 9, 1908. She was an American citizen at birth. His father, George W. Romney, was born in a Mormon Colony, Colonia Dublán, in Galeana, State of Chihuahua, Mexico, on July 8, 1907. His parents were Gaskell and Anna Amelia Pratt Romney, both ex-patriot American citizens who were born in Utah and who met and married in Mexico. Family histories indicate that they did not renounce their U.S. citizenship upon arriving in Mexico.
What calls into question Mitt Romney’s status as a “natural born” citizen is his father’s Mexican birth. After being born in Mexico to American parents in July 1907, George W. emigrated to the United States with his parents and siblings in 1912, at age 5. Many who question Mitt Romney’s status as a “natural born” citizen assume that his father, George W. Romney, was a Mexican citizen when he arrived in the United States in July 1912.
If that were the case, all that would be necessary for Mitt Romney to be a “natural born” citizen would be for his father to have acquired U.S. citizenship at some point between July 1912, when he came to the United States, and March 12, 1947, when Mitt was born. However, according to an October 15, 1967 New York Times interview with Romney, who was then seeking the 1968 Republican nomination for President of the United States, it appears that he did not at any time apply for naturalization.
According to the Times report, “Governor Romney said today that the question of his constitutional eligibility for office had been studied by lawyers and that he believed it posed no problem… Governor Romney said that he did not have to file any papers to become an American citizen since both his parents had been born in the United States…” ...........................
If he did receive automatic Mexican citizenship, jure soli, because of his birth on Mexican soil, he would then have held dual US-Mexican citizenship and would have been ineligible to serve as President of the United States. Conversely, if he received only American citizenship, jure sanguimis, because he was born to American parents on foreign soil, he would then have been eligible to serve as a “natural born” U.S. citizen.
These are the findings and conclusions of one not trained in the law. As such, their value should be judged only according to the reader’s level of confidence in the source. I am only trying to shed a bit of light on a sticky question that may be of critical importance to us all."
View the complete article at:
http://www.thepostemail.com/2012/02/...lity-question/
WILL HE HAVE TO PROVE IT?
The Post & Email
Paul R. Hollrah, ©2012
2/1/2012
Excerpts:
"According to Wikipedia, "Americans who have dual citizenship do not lose their United States citizenship unless they renounce it officially."
"A December 18, 2011 article in the Free Republic, by Larry Walker, Jr., raises many interesting questions about Mitt Romney’s status as a “natural born” citizen, as required under Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution.
The principal questions raised by Walker are these: First, at the time of Mitt Romney’s birth, was his father a United States Citizen? Secondly, inasmuch as Romney’s father, George W. Romney, was born in Mexico, did his father become a naturalized citizen prior to Mitt’s birth? And finally, as the son of a Mexican-born father, was Mitt Romney born with dual US-Mexican citizenship?
These are all interesting questions. However, in order to address them with some degree of logic it might be useful to first establish a few facts of the Romney family history, working backwards from the present.
Mitt Romney was born in Detroit, Michigan on March 12, 1947. His parents were George W. and Lenore LaFount Romney, who married in Salt Lake City on July 2, 1931. At the time of his birth, Mitt’s father served as general manager of the Automobile Manufacturers Association, in Detroit.
Mitt’s mother, Lenore Romney, was born in Logan, Utah on November 9, 1908. She was an American citizen at birth. His father, George W. Romney, was born in a Mormon Colony, Colonia Dublán, in Galeana, State of Chihuahua, Mexico, on July 8, 1907. His parents were Gaskell and Anna Amelia Pratt Romney, both ex-patriot American citizens who were born in Utah and who met and married in Mexico. Family histories indicate that they did not renounce their U.S. citizenship upon arriving in Mexico.
What calls into question Mitt Romney’s status as a “natural born” citizen is his father’s Mexican birth. After being born in Mexico to American parents in July 1907, George W. emigrated to the United States with his parents and siblings in 1912, at age 5. Many who question Mitt Romney’s status as a “natural born” citizen assume that his father, George W. Romney, was a Mexican citizen when he arrived in the United States in July 1912.
If that were the case, all that would be necessary for Mitt Romney to be a “natural born” citizen would be for his father to have acquired U.S. citizenship at some point between July 1912, when he came to the United States, and March 12, 1947, when Mitt was born. However, according to an October 15, 1967 New York Times interview with Romney, who was then seeking the 1968 Republican nomination for President of the United States, it appears that he did not at any time apply for naturalization.
According to the Times report, “Governor Romney said today that the question of his constitutional eligibility for office had been studied by lawyers and that he believed it posed no problem… Governor Romney said that he did not have to file any papers to become an American citizen since both his parents had been born in the United States…” ...........................
If he did receive automatic Mexican citizenship, jure soli, because of his birth on Mexican soil, he would then have held dual US-Mexican citizenship and would have been ineligible to serve as President of the United States. Conversely, if he received only American citizenship, jure sanguimis, because he was born to American parents on foreign soil, he would then have been eligible to serve as a “natural born” U.S. citizen.
These are the findings and conclusions of one not trained in the law. As such, their value should be judged only according to the reader’s level of confidence in the source. I am only trying to shed a bit of light on a sticky question that may be of critical importance to us all."
View the complete article at:
http://www.thepostemail.com/2012/02/...lity-question/