A Canadian Reader Argues For Strictly Limited Dual Citizenship
03/21/2019
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Re: John Derbyshire's One cheer for Ilhan Omar,  on Dual Citizenship

From: A Canadian Reader [Email him]

I agree with Derbyshire that dual citizenship should not be allowed as a rule. However, I think that this should apply only to adults, and adults should also be allowed to have dual citizenship transitionally. Minors who have dual, or multiple citizenship, should make an option before the age of 23. If they opt for, say, Canada, they should be able to do so only if in the 10 years before exercising the option, they have lived at least 5 years in Canada. 

Let's say that a Canadian woman goes to Argentina. She marries an Argentinian and has a child with him. The child receives both Argentinian and Canadian citizenship. When the child is 14 years old, his/her parents move to Canada. When he/she is 20, he/she will have lived 6 of the previous 10 years in Canada, and can therefore retain her Canadian citizenship provided that he/she will renounce his/her Argentinian citizenship within 3 years. 

After you became an American citizenship, you should have been given 3 years to renounce your British citizenship. Failure to do so should have resulted in the revocation of your American citizenship. That's what I mean by transitional dual citizenship. Unfortunately, some countries don't allow their citizens to renounce their citizenship. My position is that we should never accept immigrants from those countries. 

Having said as much, abolishing dual citizenship will not abolish dual loyalties. I'm a Canadian citizen with Dutch ancestors. I have never had Dutch citizenship, since I was born and grew up in Brazil, but I certainly have Dutch loyalties. In fact, I'm a quadruple loyalist: Canada, Brazil, the Netherlands and Cuba. If passports only determined loyalty, the Soviet Union would still exist today.

Nobody has a Muslim passport, but many Muslims are at least as loyal to Islam as to their country, and why not? Doesn't Allah deserve a higher loyalty than a country, which only consists of human beings? (See Can Rep. Ilhan Omar Really Serve Two Masters—Islam and the U.S.?  and Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Behavior Reflects Her Sharia Beliefs. ) All religious loyalties can conflict with national loyalties. Really, the only people who never have a conflict of loyalties are total egoists, who are always unfailingly loyal to themselves. 

James Fulford writes: This limited dual citizenship would make more sense than what we have now.

 

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