The Rights Of Citizenship!

Hello Guys and Gals!

I got into a very fun debate the other day with one of my favorite friends in the whole world! I made this statement on FaceBook:

"If you are NOT an American Citizen, then the rights of U.S. Citizens, guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America, are NOT your rights! If you do want to become a Citizen of the U.S.A., then go through the proper legal means to attain that Citizenship, and then those very rights will be a right guaranteed to you as well!"

This friend of mine quickly pointed out a very good passage of scripture to me. Leviticus 19:33-34:

33 ‘When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.
34 ‘The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.

My friend convinced me through more debate that my statement was too general in the way I first stated it!

Over the next couple of days I could not get this debate out of my head. So I asked myself why. I started thinking about both sides of the issue.

I do fully agree with my friend that we should not do strangers who reside with us any wrong! And anyone who comes to the USA with the true intent of becoming as one who is native to the USA, abiding by our laws, our beliefs, and our constitution, then yes, they should be accorded all the rights with their good intent that a US Citizen would have!

But someone might say that everyone should have those rights no matter what. Well let us take a good look at exactly what that statement is saying.

First of all what constitutes a citizen?

A Natural Born Citizen can be defined as:

Currently, Title 8 of the U.S. Code fills in the gaps left by the Constitution. Section 1401 defines the following as people who are "citizens of the United States at birth:"

Anyone born inside the United States *
Any Indian or Eskimo born in the United States, provided being a citizen of the U.S. does not impair the person's status as a citizen of the tribe
Any one born outside the United States, both of whose parents are citizens of the U.S., as long as one parent has lived in the U.S.
Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year and the other parent is a U.S. national
Any one born in a U.S. possession, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year
Any one found in the U.S. under the age of five, whose parentage cannot be determined, as long as proof of non-citizenship is not provided by age 21
Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is an alien and as long as the other parent is a citizen of the U.S. who lived in the U.S. for at least five years (with military and diplomatic service included in this time)
A final, historical condition: a person born before 5/24/1934 of an alien father and a U.S. citizen mother who has lived in the U.S.

This information was found here: http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_citi.html

A Naturalized Citizen, on the other hand, has certain requirements that need to be met in order for that person to become a Naturalized Citizen. These requirements are:

Foreign nationals who wish to become citizens of the United States may do so through the naturalization process. Citizenship confers many advantages -- the right to vote, protection from the government, access to certain jobs and benefits, and the option to hold public office. All naturalization applicants must meet a number of filing requirements, described below.

Age

An applicant for naturalization must be at least eighteen years old.

Residency

An applicant must be a legal permanent resident in the U.S. The applicant must have an I-551 (Alien Registration Card) to proceed.

Residence and Physical Presence

Just before applying, a naturalization applicant must have been physically present in the U.S. for at least 30 months out of the previous five years. However, if the applicant was absent for more than six months but less than one year, the applicant may still be eligible if he or she can show that the absence was not an abandonment of resident status.

Good Moral Character

A naturalization applicant must show good moral character during the five-year period prior to application (three years if married to a U.S. citizen or one year for certain military exceptions). Murder convictions are a permanent obstacle to naturalization, as are aggravated felony convictions on or after November 29, 1990.

Certain criminal convictions in the five years prior to the application will bar naturalization, but even if the applicant fears that a conviction will ruin his or her application, all convictions must still be disclosed. It is far worse to have U.S. immigration authorities discover a falsehood than to disclose the issue.

Attachment to the Constitution

An application for naturalization must declare the applicant's willingness to support and defend the U.S. and the Constitution. An applicant declares his or her "attachment" to the U.S. and the Constitution at the time he or she takes the oath of allegiance.

Language

Applicants must be able to read, write, speak, and understand English words in ordinary use. Some applicants may be exempt because of age or mental condition.

U.S. Government and History Knowledge

An applicant for naturalization must demonstrate knowledge of the fundamentals of U.S. history and certain principles of U.S. government. Applicants are exempt if they have a medically recognizable physical or mental impairment that affects their ability to learn or understand these topics.

Oath of Allegiance

U.S. citizenship is conferred after the oath of allegiance is taken. A modified oath may be available in certain instances, such as religious opposition to oaths.

Legal Help with the Naturalization Process

Successfully naturalizing in the United States requires a thorough understanding of the steps involved, and careful preparation at each stage. If you or a loved one are considering becoming a U.S. citizen through naturalization, you should contact an experienced immigration attorney who can guide you through each step of the process and protect your legal rights

This information can be found here: http://immigration.findlaw.com/immigration/immigration-citizenship-naturalization/immigration-citizenship-naturalization-requirements.html?DCMP=KNC-Immigration-Law&HBX_PK=united+states+citizenship+requirements&HBX_OU=50

I want to focus specifically upon the Naturalized Citizenship because I believe that many things should be of particular note here!

1. The right of Protection from the Government only comes with Citizenship!

2. An applicant for Citizenship must be of Good Moral Character!

3. An applicant must declare their willingness to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America!

4. Applicants must be able to read, write, speak, and understand English words in ordinary use!

5. Citizenship is not granted until the applicant takes an Oath of Allegiance!

So the Right of Protection from the Government and the application of the Bill of Rights guaranteed to a Citizen of the United States of America under the Constitution of the United States of America is only given and guaranteed to actual Citizens of the United States of America! Therefore all rights such as a speedy trial, a court appointed attorney, humane treatment and everything else that the Constitution grants to their Citizens are only guaranteed to Citizens!

But we still extend and grant these rights to Non Citizens! Why? Because we are a Nation who believes in the Golden Rule where we treat others the same way we wish we would be treated!

So with all this, let's take another look at my statement above as well as my friend's passage of scripture.

My statement clearly states the case I have laid out for you as to who is considered a Citizen of the United States of America and that the Constitutional Guaranteed Rights of the USA are only guaranteed for Citizens of the USA as defined above!

But what about being strangers among us? This passage clearly indicates that we should treat those who live among us as a native citizen. Yet let us not confuse the fact that the US Constitution does not govern it's people by Holy Scripture but by the Constitution. So even if we are Christians and we believe the Holy Scripture, we should also follow the law of the land and that which defines the Law as is stated by Paul here in Romans 13:1-6:

1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.
2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.
3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same;
4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.
5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.
6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.

I believe that it all hinges upon the foreigner who lives among us part of the passage. Let's look at the intent of someone from a foreign land who would choose to live among another people. They would be living among another people because they see something in the way that those people live which they value and want part of! What could this be? I believe that it is the freedoms and rights that every Citizen of the USA has that you will find in no other country on the face of this planet!

I believe that there are those who come to the US in order to commit crimes and terrorism against it's citizens and do not have Good Moral Character or Intent to live among us and abide by our laws! I believe fully and completely that each and every one of these subversive persons who come to the US with evil intent should not be given any rights whatsoever as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America and that the authorities should use any and every means at their disposal to stop them from committing evil acts upon the Citizens of the USA!

But what about torture you may ask. I fully believe that those who use Enhanced Interrogation Techniques in our government do so with full knowledge that those they use them upon have evil intentions for the US Citizens and should have full clearance to do whatever it takes to protect it's people!

But just so we are clear, Enhanced Interrogation Techniques is NOT Torture! Anyone who wants to know the true difference between the two simply needs to talk to any person who was a Prisoner of War to a foreign country where they do use Torture to get information out of the PoW! Just talk to them and then compare what they say to Enhanced Interrogation Techniques as shown by any of a number of articles or news stories easily looked up on a web search!

The simple truth is that the US Government treats their prisoners better than any other government in the world! Not only that, but they also graciously grant rights, guaranteed only to Citizens of the US, to many who are not Citizens and have evil intent to do harm upon US Citizens!

So everyone out there who is says that we should be guaranteeing the Rights of a US Citizen to even non citizens, I say that you are wrong! The reason why is because if the roles were reversed, I can guarantee you that your rights would be the first thing to go under their authority!

In the end, it does not matter whether rights are given or rights are taken! What matters is that God will ultimately dispense true justice upon all evil doers and give forgiveness to all who accept His Son, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, as their Lord and Savior! All hail King Jesus, Lion of Judah and my best friend!

May God bless you all this day!