The Ownership and use of the US Person Which Includes a Citizen as an Instrument of Foreign Policy – Part I

 
cross-posted from citizenshipsolutions
originally published July 7, 2016
 

The Ownership and use of the U.S. Person which includes a Citizen as an Instrument of Foreign Policy
 
Part I – The U.S. “Giveth” and the U.S. “Taketh” – How the U.S.
uses “citizenship” as a weapon against individuals …

by John Richardson

 
The U.S. Taketh: Draft Resistors in Canada in the 60s and 70s – The use of stripping people of “citizenship” as a mechanism to control the people
 
In my recent post: “Muhammad Ali, draft resistors, loss of US citizenship, the “Rumble In The Jungle” and a trip down memory lane“, I wrote:

During the last few years I have met many former Americans who came to Canada to escape service in the Viet Nam war. Their circumstances vary greatly. This was clearly a tumultuous time and difficult time. Many of them have commented that it has similarities to the circumstances of today. In both the 70s and present day, certain Americans abroad and former Americans abroad, feel uneasy and unsure about their U.S. citizenship. It’s also interesting how in both cases the United States is using “citizenship” as a mechanism to exercise control over individuals who do not live in the United States. In the 70s the United States was punishing people by stripping them of their citizenship. In 2016 the United States is punishing people by imposing citizenship on them. Either way, it’s clear that “citizenship”
(and a U.S. place of birth) is a powerful weapon to be used against people to achieve governmental objectives.

The U.S. Giveth: “Accidental Americans” in Canada and throughout the world – The imposition of “U.S. citizenship” as a way to raise tax revenue
 
There is no one definition of “accidental American”. The group includes primarily those who were born in the United States (often with no memory of having lived there) and have spent all their lives in other nations.
I have previously written about the horrible situation of “accidental Americans” in Stanstead, Quebec. Many Stanstead residents were born in Vermont because it was the closer hospital.
 
The problems of “accidental Americans” worldwide, are well described (on an ongoing basis) by Jude Ryan in his Facebook “Hunger Strike to President Obama”.
 


 
The problems experienced by “Accidental Americans” are that at the present time:

– they (in many cases) did not even know they were considered to be U.S.
citizens

– if they did know they were U.S. citizens they did not know about the uniquely American practice of “taxation-based citizenship”

– they are deemed to be U.S. citizens and are therefore subject to U.S.
regulations

– they don’t reside in the United States AND are citizens of other nations

– they are being identified by FATCA and in some cases are having banking problems

– they can’t afford the financial costs of the tax compliance to formally renounce U.S. citizenship

– they can’t afford the $2350 fee to renounce U.S. citizenship

– they live in a state of terror and uncertainty (many don’t believe this or laugh it off)
 
In short, the forced imposition of U.S. citizenship (or at least the CURRENT unavailability of an easy out) is destroying their lives.
 
I highly recommend the following presentation by McGill Law Professor Allison Christians in which she puts the problems of “accidental Americans” in perspective.
 

 

Posts in this Series

Prologue – U.S. citizens are “subjects” to U.S. law wherever they may be in the world

Part I – The U.S. “Giveth” and the U.S. “Taketh” – How the U.S. uses “citizenship” as a weapon against individuals

Part II – – U.S. Citizens living abroad – “Life in the penalty box”

Part III – I’m a “Toxic American”, but it’s not my fault – How U.S. regulation makes “U.S. citizens undesirables in other nations

Part IV – The use of U.S. citizens as instruments of foreign policy

Part V – Why Americans abroad are renouncing U.S.
citizenship

Part VI – The injustice of the S. 877A “Exit Tax” as applied to Americans abroad