Page 50 - Fruits from a Poisonous Tree

34 Fruit from a Poisonous Tree
SUPPORTING STATUTES – TITLE 25 USC § 1999

“Whereas 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; and whereas in the recognition received emigrants
from all nations and vested them with the rights of citizenship; and whereas
it is claimed that such American citizens, with their descendants, are subjects
of foreign states, owing allegiance to the governments thereof; and whereas
it is necessary to the maintenance of the public peace that this claim of
foreign allegiance should be promptly and finally disavowed: Therefore, any
declaration, instruction, opinion, order, or decision of an officer of the United
States which denies, restricts, impairs, or question the right of expatriation, is
declared inconsistent with the fundamental principles of the Republic.”
The above statute reads like it was meant for foreigners who come to this
country from all over the world. Definitions are all important in the reading
of any legal writing. The definition most important in the above statute is
the words “foreign states,” so let’s look at some other statutes, Supreme Court
decisions and dictionary definitions that shed more light on those words.
The Constitution was made for States, not territories,” wrote Daniel
Webster. “[T]he Constitution of the United States as such does not under
it extend beyond the limits of the States which are united by and under it,”
wrote author Langdell in “The Status of Our New Territories,” 12 Harvard
Law Review 365, 371.
Judicial note should be taken that the United States Constitution always
th
denoted “Citizen” and “Person” in capital letters prior to the 14 Amendment;
thereafter, “citizen” and “person” were not capitalized. The distinction
between “citizens of the United States” and “Union States Citizens” has been
fully recognized by the Congress and the Courts as follows:
“We have in our political system a government of the United States and
a government of each of the several States. Each one of these governments
is distinct from the others, and each has citizens of its own who owe it
a
allegiance, and whose rights, within its jurisdiction, it must protect.”
[Emphasis added]
The Federal Government is a “state”. b
Foreign State. A foreign country or nation. The several United States are
considered “foreign” to each other except as regards their relations as common
members of the Union. (Black’s Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, page 1407)
Congress identifies these citizens of the “District” as “individuals” or
citizens who reside in the “United States” and who are subject to the direct
control of Congress in its local taxing and other municipal laws. Asking one
question can clear up the distinction between the two types of Citizen: