A Family Tale: Do I Need a Lawyer?

 This is the policy text of Donald Trump's executive order revoking birthright citizenship for some Americans: 

Section 2. It is the policy of the United States that no department or agency of the United States government shall issue documents recognizing United States citizenship, or accept documents issued by State, local, or other governments or authorities purporting to recognize United States citizenship, to persons, (1)) when that person's mother was unlawfully present in the United States and that person's father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person's birth, or (2) when that person's mother's presence in the United States was lawful but temporary, and the person's father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person's birth.

Now, let me tell you a true tale of Howard family history. My paternal grandparents were both Canadian citizens. My grandfather was born there while my grandmother's family immigrated there from the UK when she was four years old. They lived in Montreal and were married there. The company my grandfather worked for sent he and his wife to the United States so he could represent them as a cotton buyer.

What their visa status was has been lost to history, but neither became American citizens until well after my father was born. To complicate things one summer, while they were back in Montreal visiting relatives my father arrived a tad early. So, he was also born in Canada to non-American citizens. Shortly after his birth the family travelled back to Oklahoma where they owned a home and my grandfather worked. 

George and Alice Howard didn't become U.S. citizens until the late 1930's when my father was a teenager. As far as we know, because he was underage, my Dad automatically became one also. At least no one questioned his citizenship when he joined the navy during WWII or later went to work for the state of Oklahoma. Or, for that matter, when he voted in elections, which was always. 

Thank God Donald Trump wasn't running things back then. If he had been who knows what the status of the House of Howard would have been? In fact, who knows what my status would be right now. Yes, I was born in Muskogee, OK, but my father was born in Canada to Canadian citizens and never thought to apply for American citizenship during his lifetime because he just assumed he didn't have to. 

Fuck. Do I need a lawyer? Or, maybe more importantly, a moving van?

Well, thanks to a federal judge in Seattle, at least not yet. Judge John Coughenour took one look at Trump's executive order and said it was, "the most blatantly unconstitutional thing," he had ever seen. He put a temporary halt to its enforcement until further arguments could be made both for and against  it. Coughenour has been on the bench for over 40 years. He was put there by that ultra woke President, Ronald Reagan. 

That's the good news. The bad news is earlier today, GOP South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham told NBC's Meet the Press he believed that when Trump's people drag the issue to the Supreme Court a majority of the justices will side with the President. Hey, why not? Trump and his pals have paid those justices boatloads of money to vote their way and by God, it's time to deliver. 

Besides, as one comedian said the other day, "The only thing in the Constitution Trump's supporters believe is the part that says they can own guns."

So that's where we stand at the moment. Apparently, Donald Trump and the Supreme Court are going to declare the Constitution is unconstitutional. My father, the sub rosa Canuck, might have committed criminal acts when he voted for everyone from Harry Truman to Richard Nixon to Bill Clinton. And I, much to the glee of several people who know me, might be considered an illegal alien if Donald Trump had been on the throne a few decades ago.  

Ah yes, who says America isn't great again?

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