What does King’s legacy have to do with birthright citizenship?
“I have a dream”
January 15 is Martin Luther King Day in the US, which gives us the opportunity to revisit the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr King delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC on August 28, 1963. In addition to referencing the Bible, the iconic speech made references to other important documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. King also noted that the rights promised 100 years earlier in the Emancipation Proclamation were still being denied to Black Americans.
Dr. King’s powerful speech was noticed by the Kennedy administration and led to momentous change. Although then – President Kennedy was assassinated shortly after the speech was given, his successor, Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act into law in 1964 and 1965, respectively. Speaking out against injustice was not without risk. After his famous speech, Dr. King was described by an FBI official as “the most dangerous Negro of the future in this nation.” The FBI’s surveillance of Dr. King lasted until his assassination in 1968.
A long arc that bends towards justice
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”
This quote is often attributed to Martin Luther King, Jr, though historians tell us that he was paraphrasing Theodore Parker, a 19th century abolitionist minister. While much progress has been made in terms of justice and equality, much work remains to be done.
In an essay titled Roots: Staying Grounded in Times of Uncertainty, published in the 2020 issue of Black Diamonds (pages 6-9), I observed that as a nation, it felt like we were back in the sixties. In the midst of a global pandemic, the nation was dealing with the aftermath of the brutal murder of George Floyd and others before him. In referencing King’s I have a dream speech, I drew attention to the fact that even though it was given almost six decades earlier, the dream was still unfulfilled. I don’t know how many people read the essay, but I felt a responsibility to speak out. It is that same sense of responsibility that led me to write this current essay.
The 14th amendment and birthright citizenship
An essay published in the Washington Post on November 25, 2023, told the story of a 61year-old physician based in Virginia who had applied for a renewal of his US passport, only to have his application denied. Dr. Siavash Sobhani was informed that he wasn’t actually a US citizen, despite having been born in the US and having a US passport that had been renewed a number of times. The reason was that his father was a foreign diplomat and had diplomatic immunity at the time of his birth. He was informed that he should not have been given a US passport in the first place. The story was also covered by other outlets, including the Daily Mail.
The 14th amendment to the constitution states that people born in the US are citizens, but there is a clause that states that they have to be “subject to US jurisdiction”. This has been interpreted to mean that since foreign diplomats with full diplomatic immunity are not “subject to US jurisdiction,” their US born children do not acquire citizenship at birth. Needless to say, this must have been extremely unsettling- to be told in your sixties that you are not a citizen of the country in which you were born and have lived most of your life. I haven’t heard of any updates on the situation and was unable to contact Dr. Sobhani directly when I attempted to do so.
Why do I care?
I have written to President Biden, asking for intervention on Dr. Sobhani’s behalf. (I was already planning to write to the President and send him a copy of my book Scranton, A Place to Call Home, so the timing was perfect). Also, several people have signed a petition on Dr. Sobhani’s behalf at change.org.
You may be wondering why I care so much about this issue. I don’t know Dr. Sobhani personally, but being a fellow physician, he is my colleague. More importantly, though, I too was born in the US into a diplomatic family and denied birthright citizenship. In my case, the details played out very differently, but it took several years to obtain something that otherwise would have been a birthright. (Even my initial application for permanent residence was denied, but that’s a story for another essay).
A “long arc” indeed
I have written to several leaders, including US Presidents, senators and members of congress on this issue for decades, and while I have gotten a few responses, the issue was never taken up by any of them. I have also tried to get my story published in various outlets, without any success. I even wrote a letter to the Editor of the Washington Post after my op- ed submission was rejected and that wasn’t published either. I am aware that change takes time, and I am writing this essay with the hope that it will draw attention to those who have the power to implement the necessary changes.
In a country where children born to undocumented immigrants, visitors, students and every other category of foreigners (including terrorists), are granted automatic citizenship, it makes no sense that there is no path to citizenship for children born to diplomats. I know people whose parents worked alongside my father in the embassy who were granted automatic citizenship since their parents either didn’t have diplomatic immunity or perhaps had only partial immunity. I also know of others who were born to my father’s contemporaries, who, like Dr. Sobhani, had US passports that were rescinded when it was later discovered that their fathers had been diplomats at the time of their birth.
A matter of fairness
I have been advised on various occasions to “let sleeping dogs lie,” as if I should be satisfied with the fact that I eventually got my own issues resolved. But that isn’t the point. For several years, I was denied opportunities such as Federal student loans – opportunities that would have been available to me if I had been born to undocumented immigrants – or anyone else. For the first few years of medical school, I had to take private loans and ended up incurring much more student debt than necessary.
There are probably many others out there like Dr. Sobhani who are in “limbo” and who need some kind of intervention from the government.
The spirit of the law
The section of the 14th amendment that grants birthright citizenship was added to the constitution to ensure fairness. Unfortunately, it is being interpreted in a manner that does the exact opposite.
Like Dr. King, I too have a dream: that one day, the United States of America will stop penalizing children born to diplomats in this country. There is no justification for denying citizenship (and even permanent resident status), to children born to parents who were here legally while granting everyone else citizenship, regardless of their parents’ status. It is simply a matter of fairness.