A Citizenship issue

Reaction and inspired by the article of Leonard Pitts Jr.

I try not to see this with American political color. But the issue was too tempting to discuss. I’ll talk about it stressing the common sense and the system applicable to all. So let’s take out the Pres. Obama part here.

Birth and Citizenship. Truly simple and logical; easily connected to a yes or no answer, or green is go and red is stop solution. Naturally, the common answer to your citizenship would come from “where were you born?” It is definitely on a certain country’s soil somewhere in this planet.

I will give myself as an example. I am a Filipino. I was born and raised in the Philippines. It is where I grew up, studied in school, the native language I speak (Tagalog), the people I knew, the food I became accustomed to, the issues and history I followed, etc… A huge part of my identity belongs and comes from that land. It is a plain natural truth.

The complex issues and problems are there and clearly there are systems that deal with that. Our country’s census has piled rules and regulations to follow to justify, certify and record our citizenship. The most common would be having foreign parents, which for me could be solved by stating your choice within 24 hours since birth, firm and locked early on. The bulk of problems are from trail of documentation, following steps one to infinity, needing the seals and signatures to confirm your identity. We admit that a huge number of people try to cheat the system especially those of dark pasts. Nevertheless, strict enforcements to rules can control these.

It still boils down to anyone who gets questioned of their citizenship even if the legal proof is obviously there. If the seals and signatures are genuine, and the document is rightly recognized by the country, then to question your identity would totally be senseless. To even add proof that it is a land where you grew up and lived for most of your life would make all those who doubt totally ridiculous. It is a total waste of time, attention and money to hype it up in the mainstream.