{"id":1570,"date":"2012-02-01T01:53:24","date_gmt":"2012-02-01T07:53:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.orderofephors.com\/?p=1570"},"modified":"2012-02-01T16:37:02","modified_gmt":"2012-02-01T22:37:02","slug":"the-romney-eligibility-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orderofephors.com\/?p=1570","title":{"rendered":"The Romney Eligibility Question"},"content":{"rendered":"

A December 18, 2011 article in the Free Republic<\/em>, by Larry Walker, Jr., raises many interesting questions about Mitt Romney\u2019s status as a \u201cnatural born\u201d citizen, as required under Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution.<\/p>\n

The principal questions raised by Walker are these:\u00a0 First, at the time of Mitt Romney\u2019s birth, was his father a United States Citizen?\u00a0 Secondly, inasmuch as Romney\u2019s father, George W. Romney, was born in Mexico, did his father become a naturalized citizen prior to Mitt\u2019s birth?\u00a0 And finally, as the son of a Mexican-born father, was Mitt Romney born with dual US-Mexican citizenship?<\/p>\n

These are all interesting questions.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Mitt Romney was born in Detroit, Michigan on March 12, 1947.\u00a0 His parents were George W. and Lenore LaFount Romney, who married in Salt Lake City on July 2, 1931.\u00a0 At the time of his birth, Mitt\u2019s father served as general manager of the Automobile Manufacturers Association, in Detroit.<\/p>\n

Mitt\u2019s mother, Lenore Romney, was born in Logan, Utah on November 9, 1908.\u00a0 She was an American citizen at birth.\u00a0 His father, George W. Romney, was born in a Mormon Colony, Colonia Dubl\u00e1n<\/a>, in Galeana<\/a>, State of Chihuahua, Mexico, on July 8, 1907.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Family histories indicate that they did not renounce their U.S. citizenship upon arriving in Mexico.<\/p>\n

What calls into question Mitt Romney\u2019s status as a \u201cnatural born\u201d citizen is his father\u2019s Mexican birth.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Many who question Mitt Romney\u2019s status as a \u201cnatural born\u201d citizen assume that his father, George W. Romney, was a Mexican citizen when he arrived in the United States in July 1912.<\/p>\n

If that were the case, all that would be necessary for Mitt Romney to be a \u201cnatural born\u201d 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.\u00a0 However, according to an October 15, 1967 New York Times<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n

According to the Times<\/em> report, \u201cGovernor 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\u2026\u00a0 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\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

In a follow-up story on November 5, 1967, the Times<\/em> reported that, \u201cHe was born July 8, 1907, in Chihuahua, Mexico, where his American parents were living in an exile Mormon community.\u00a0 As the son of an American father, <\/strong>he was entitled by statute to American citizenship at birth. \u00a0So <\/strong>there was no need for him to be naturalized when his parents brought him, as a small boy, to the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since George W. Romney was born on foreign soil, this raises the question of citizenship \u201cby descent\u201d of children born to American citizens on foreign soil.\u00a0 Legal scholars insist that the question of citizenship lies in two concepts of international law: a) birth in-country, or jure soli<\/em> (by right of the soil), or b) from birth outside the country to parents who are citizens,\u00a0 jure sanguinis<\/em> (by right of blood).\u00a0 The latter would apply to George W. Romney.<\/p>\n

One recent news story (source unknown) summed up the issue of Mitt Romney\u2019s eligibility: \u201cWhen Mitt Romney was born in the USA in Detroit, Michigan in 1947, his parents were both clearly recognized as being Citizens of the United States per the U. S. Nationality Act of 1940<\/a>. Thus, Mitt was born in the USA to parents (plural) who were both citizens of the country and Mitt is a \u2018natural born Citizen\u2019 of the United States\u2026 George Romney was a citizen of the United States per U.S. \u201cjus sanguinis\u201d<\/em> laws going back to the founding of our nation and also per the U.S. Nationality Act of 1940. \u00a0He was born in Mexico of U.S. citizen <\/strong>parents (plural) and thus George Romney is a \u2018citizen\u2019 at birth under U.S. laws, including the U.S. Nationality Act of 1940.<\/p>\n

\u201cDetractors claim that George Romney\u2019s parents legally renounced their U.S. citizenship while in Mexico and thus could not pass along their U.S. Citizenship by jus sanguinis<\/em> to their son George Romney. \u00a0There is absolutely no evidence of that\u2026\u00a0 He was recognized by all U.S. laws as a U.S. citizen long before 1940, but the Nationality Act of 1940\u2026 clearly stated that people in George Romney\u2019s status were citizens of the United States at birth. \u00a0That act was adopted 7 years prior to Mitt Romney being born in Detroit, Michigan\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Regarding Mitt Romney\u2019s status as a dual US-Mexican citizen, that question is of little or no importance.\u00a0 If Mexican law in the early years of the 20th<\/sup> century conferred automatic Mexican citizenship on all those born on Mexican soil it is possible, even likely, that George W. Romney would have held dual US-Mexican citizenship throughout his life, making him ineligible to serve as President of the United States.\u00a0 However, it is inconceivable that Mexican law could impose dual US-Mexican citizenship, by descent, on the American-born children of those who held dual US-Mexican citizenship by automatic operation of Mexican law.<\/p>\n

Those who support the presidential aspirations of Mitt Romney should rest easy.\u00a0 It appears that all doubts relating to his status as a \u201cnatural born\u201d U.S. citizen are without foundation.\u00a0 In his father\u2019s case, it appears that he may have qualified as a \u201cnatural born\u201d citizen only so long as he did not receive automatic Mexican citizenship by virtue of his being born to American parents on Mexican soil.<\/p>\n

If he did receive automatic Mexican citizenship, jure soli,<\/em> 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.\u00a0 Conversely, if he received only American citizenship, jure sanguimis<\/em>, because he was born to American parents on foreign soil, he would then have been eligible to serve as a \u201cnatural born\u201d U.S. citizen.<\/p>\n

These are the findings and conclusions of one not trained in the law.\u00a0 As such, their value should be judged only according to the reader\u2019s level of confidence in the source. \u00a0I am only trying to shed a bit of light on a sticky question that may be of critical importance to us all.<\/p>\n

If one trained in the law wishes to differ with my conclusions I will be happy to amend accordingly.\u00a0 In the meantime, caveat<\/em> emptor!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A December 18, 2011 article in the Free Republic, by Larry Walker, Jr., raises many interesting questions about Mitt Romney\u2019s status as a \u201cnatural born\u201d citizen, as required under Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution. The principal questions … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orderofephors.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1570"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orderofephors.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orderofephors.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orderofephors.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orderofephors.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1570"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.orderofephors.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1574,"href":"https:\/\/www.orderofephors.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1570\/revisions\/1574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orderofephors.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orderofephors.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orderofephors.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}