Thread: Romney's Father a 'Poster Boy' for Dream Act, Given Family's Mexican Roots

NBC: Romney's Father a 'Poster Boy' for Dream Act, Given Family's Mexican Roots

By Kyle Drennen | January 10, 2012 | 12:34

On NBC's Rock Center on Monday, correspondent Mike Taibbi led the broadcast with a report on Mitt Romney's family roots in Mexico: "It's a little known fact that there's a whole branch of Mitt's family living right here in Mexico, including his second cousin, Layton Romney." [Audio available here]

Following the report, host Brian Williams used the story to discuss Mitt Romney's stance on illegal immigration, observing: "And couldn't you make the case the family tree is an aspect of the Dream Act?" Taibbi agreed: "Absolutely. I mean, his father [George Romney] could be the poster boy for the Dream Act." [View video after the jump]

During his report, Taibbi explained that George Romney was born in Mexico: "Down one branch [of the Romney family tree], mitt's grandfather Gaskell and Mitt's Mexican-born father George, later a two-term Michigan governor who ran for president in 1968 and asserted that because both his parents were American-born, his birthplace didn't matter."

Talking to Williams, Taibbi highlighted how Romney's Mexican cousins split with the presidential candidate on the issue of immigration: "I mean, he's in opposition to the Dream Act, obviously. He supports a border fence, and his cousins down there say that doesn't make any sense at all....they don't think their cousin has the right point of view."

Here is a transcript of the January 9 exchange between Williams and Taibbi:

10:10PM ET

BRIAN WILLIAMS: Mike, it's a fascinating story. And aside from the political science angle, George Romney's citizenship status and whether that would have survived a challenge, the issue just lying out there, we're in an election year, is immigration.

MIKE TAIBBI: Yeah, it's going to happen. Obviously, they have a different point of view on that than does candidate Mitt right now. I mean, he's in opposition to the Dream Act, obviously. He supports a border fence, and his cousins down there say that doesn't make any sense at all. There has to be a way because it's important for people to find a way to work, to get a path, to let them work temporarily at least. And they don't think their cousin has the right point of view. That would be a big issue for them to discuss.

WILLIAMS: And couldn't you make the case the family tree is an aspect of the Dream Act?

TAIBBI: Absolutely. I mean, his father could be the poster boy for the Dream Act.

WILLIAMS: Mike, great piece of reporting, thank you.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/kyle-dr...#ixzz1j5qWvGwb

Romney's monogamous grandparents retained their U.S. citizenship and returned to the United States with his father in 1912. His father never received Mexican citizenship, because the country's nationality laws had been restricted to jus sanguinis statutes due to prevailing politics aimed against American settlers

Originally Posted by MontereySherry

Romney's monogamous grandparents retained their U.S. citizenship and returned to the United States with his father in 1912. His father never received Mexican citizenship, because the country's nationality laws had been restricted to jus sanguinis statutes due to prevailing politics aimed against American settlers

Jus sanguinis (Latin: right of blood) is a social policy by which citizenship is not determined by place of birth but by having one or both parent who are citizens of the nation. It contrasts with jus soli (Latin for "right of soil").
At the end of the 19th century, the French-German debate on nationality saw the French, such as Ernest Renan, oppose the German conception, exemplified by Johann Fichte, who beilieved inan "objective nationality", based on blood, race or even language. Renan's republican conception explains France's early adoption of jus soli. Many nations have a mixture of jus sanguinis and jus soli, including the United States, Canada, Italy, Israel, Germany (as of recently), Greece, the Republic of Ireland.
Apart from France, jus sanguinis is still the most common means of passing on citizenship in many continental European countries. Some countries provide almost the same rights as a citizen to people born in the country, without actually giving them citizenship. An example is Indfødsret in Denmark, which provides that upon reaching 18, non-citizen residents can decide to take a test to gain citizenship.

(Latin: Right of blood)

Why would the news media not verify the citizenship rights of children of 2 US citizens born outside the United States before having a dialogue like this one? Have our journalists stopped being reporters to compete with basement bloggers in Alaska? Is this how low our country has fallen?

George Romney's parents were US citizens living abroad which makes him a US citizen. But because he was born outside the country, he is not a natural born citizen. However, any of his children who were born in the US are natural born citizens. Mitt was born in Detroit to 2 US citizens making him a natural born citizen eligible to hold the office of President of the United States.

Time to have the bloggers check everyone's birth certificate.

Originally Posted by Judy

Why would the news media not verify the citizenship rights of children of 2 US citizens born outside the United States before having a dialogue like this one? Have our journalists stopped being reporters to compete with basement bloggers in Alaska? Is this how low our country has fallen?

George Romney's parents were US citizens living abroad which makes him a US citizen. But because he was born outside the country, he is not a natural born citizen. However, any of his children who were born in the US are natural born citizens. Mitt was born in Detroit to 2 US citizens making him a natural born citizen eligible to hold the office of President of the United States.

Because it works. Unfortunately Americans have been fooled way to often. We read the headlines, read the trigger words and go no further. It must be the truth. Even here on this forum way too often we see certain folks repeating comments without taking the time to investigate the facts. We hear trigger words that are supposed to stop us in our tracks and sway our opinion.