"Unfortunately for the court, Sen. Howard effectively shoots down this feeble attempt to replace his clause with their own home grown Citizenship Clause. Firstly, Howard finds no incompatibility with expatriation and the fourteenth's Citizenship Clause when he says:"I take it for granted that when a man becomes a citizen of the United States under the Constitution he cannot cease to be a citizen, except by expatriation for the commission of some crime by which his citizenship shall be forfeited."
As a historical note: during this time period, U.S. citizenship could be forfeited with any hearing at all upon the undertaking of various acts, including naturalization in a foreign state, service in foreign armed forces, and voting in a foreign political election, or escaping criminal prosecution.
In 1868, Congress declared that "the right of expatriation is a natural and inherent right of all people, indispensable to the enjoyment of the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Act of
July 27, 1868, ch. 249, 15 Stat. 223, 223 (1868).
Thus the exodus begins:
Like his immigrant father, Miles Park Romney, Mitt's great-grandfather, was a skilled carpenter and architect, and was later sent by Young to establish Mormon settlements in St. George, Utah, and St. Johns, Ariz. But like the others, Miles Park was hounded by U.S. marshals, whose pursuit intensified after the 1882 Edmunds Act, which stripped thousands of polygamists of their ability to vote and other basic citizenship rights.
Miles Parker was jailed for "unlawful cohabitation," his property was confiscated, and he once evaded federal agents by hiding in a wagon, according to the Thomas Romney biography.
Gaskell Romney, Mitt's paternal grandfather, was born in St. George, Utah, when it was but a territory. At age 14, Miles Parker carried him off to Mexico.
I have spent the last two days pouring over the life and times of Miles Park Romney: Mitt Romney's great-grandfather (paternal), Helamen Pratt: Mitt Romney’s great-grandfather (maternal), Gaskell Romney: Mitt Romney's grandfather (paternal), George W. Romney: Mitt Romney's father.
I have found overwhelming prima facie evidence, including a copy of Mexican Naturalization papers for Helamen Pratt:
suggesting that at least George's mother, Anna, acquired her Mexican citizenship derivatively through her father, Helamen Pratt.
George Romney was born in Mexico to expatriated Mormon parents, at least one of whom was a Mexican citizen through the derivative process. Unless there is some other evidence that Gaskell Romney was a nationalized Mexican citizen before George was born in 1907, it means that Mitt Romney is, in fact, a natural born Citizen under Vattel: that is by jus sanguinis alone of his father: George Romney.
There is one more document I have yet to post: FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF AMERICAN STATES.
On August 13, 1906, there was signed at Rio de Janeiro a convention between the United States and most of the Latin American countries, including Mexico:
Art. I. If a naturalized citizen, a native of any of the countries signing the present convention, and naturalized in another, shall again take up his residence in his native country without the intention of returning to the country in which he has been naturalized, he will be considered as having re-assumed his original citizenship, and has having renounced the citizenship acquired by the said naturalization.
This article comprises not only the citizen already naturalized, but also those who may become naturalized subsequently.
ex animo
davidfarrar
