Don’t Amend for Arnold or Jen

Foreign born citizens should not be President

by Steve Yuhas

Just when you thought it was safe to return to normal television viewing without the barrage of political ads, another group is raising funds to air television and internet spots telling us that it is time to amend the U.S. Constitution to allow foreign born citizens to run for President of the United States.

What began as a campaign to allow Arnold Schwarzenegger to run for President was hastily changed to add the word “Jen” to the Amend for Arnold moniker that started on a website and has taken to the airwaves. 

The people behind the ads are supporters of Governor Schwarzenegger (R-CA) and tout his administration’s first anniversary on their website, but in order to act as if amending our nation’s most precious document is not simply to allow the actor turned politician to run for President, they added Jen to indicate their desire to allow Governor Jennifer Granholm (D-MI) to run for the office as well.

Schwarzenegger, an Austrian who truly believes that America is the land of opportunity, won a hotly contested gubernatorial re-call election when the most unpopular governor in the nation was booted from office a year ago.  Granholm is the Canadian born; socialist bred product of our neighbor and nemesis in foreign policy.  

The notion of amending the greatest document in world history next to the Bible (or Torah or Qur’an depending upon your faith) to allow foreigners to run for President should not happen and Americans need not look far into history to figure out why.

Not that Schwarzenegger or Granholm can be compared to tyrannical world leaders born in one nation who moved to another only to assume the highest office in that land, but examples are interesting: Hitler was born in Austria, Stalin was born in Georgia and Napoleon was born in Corsica; go back further in time and you’ll find example after example where a person of one nation moved to another only to seize power (peacefully or by force) who goes on to prove himself unworthy of the position.

There is little chance that this amendment would pass the states or the Congress as Americans do not support changing the Constitution to allow foreign born Americans to run for President, but some things to consider during the debate are not hard to figure out.

The primary reason to not allow foreign born individuals to become President is loyalty.  It doesn’t matter how far removed one is from his or her place of birth there is a culture of loyalty that exists in that history that is hard to overcome.  In years past there was an almost sacred devotion to the United States that does not exist in newcomers today. 

When boat loads of Italians or Polish immigrants entered New York Harbor and set their eyes on the Statue of Liberty most of them told stories to their children and grandchildren of the tears that came to their eyes as they considered the future of freedom they had to look forward to. 

Those immigrants worked hard, still bringing their heritage in the forms of food and festivals, religions and dialects, but assimilating into a distinct American culture where they didn’t consider themselves part of a hyphenated population.  Never did you hear anyone say they were Italian-American or Polish-American – they were all proud to say that they were American and that their heritage was Italian or Polish. 

Today when an immigrant comes to the United States, legally or otherwise, they maintain their language and don’t force their children to learn English, they subjugate themselves into little ghettos of hyphenated subgroups where their language, customs and cultures are not secondary to the distinct American culture, but superior to it. 

Consider immigrants today who have hyphenated themselves into such things as Mexican-American, Asian-American and the now infamous gay-American.  Assimilation is secondary to immigrants of today and their desire to become part of America is diminished in a manner never seen during periods of immigration in our immigrant rich past.

Other reasons, such as the privilege of American citizenship – that is to say that much like an American Express card – membership in the club of American born citizens is a privilege that is simply the luck of the draw.  Non-citizens can aspire to become governors, members of congress and members of the President’s cabinet and that is more than sufficient for foreign born Americans to aspire to.  This Constitutional compromise has proven a great way for immigrants who come to America who want to assimilate and serve in government to do exactly that.

The office of President of the United States, though, is different and no amount of assimilation, especially in today’s America where hyphenating into subgroups of Americans is more common than apple pie, will change that people born in America and people who move to America are different.  Their loyalty to the nation is questionable when their ancestry or background comes before the word American in their hyphenation sequence and that cannot be permitted in one who aspires to be President.

Television and internet advertisements to amend the Constitution have been put together to allow one man the ability to run for President, but a change to the Constitution will allow anyone to do it – not just Arnold or Jen. 

Given the history of foreign born leaders coming to power, not very long ago, allowing foreign born folks to become governors, members of congress and cabinet members is sufficient given the enormous power that the President of the United States yields. 

There is no room for error in this decision and when and if the campaign to allow for foreign born people to run for President gets to the floor of the House, Senate or state legislatures everyone should keep in mind the treacherous records that are not far removed from history of foreign born leaders who rose to power from outside their homelands: Hitler, Stalin and Napoleon just to name a few.

Amending the Constitution is not something to be taken lightly and the wise men that put the document together didn’t simply insert Article 2, Section 1, Clause 5 to be hurtful to foreigners. 

Schwarzenegger’s supporters say that since the Constitution has been changed on the average of every eight years that it is time for an amendment; hardly a good reason to change the most perfect governmental document ever created by man. 

If they want an amendment just because it is time for one or because people don’t get to choose where they are born are insufficient reasons to change a bedrock of American society; that the President of the United States is first and foremost an American and his loyalty to the nation unquestionable and unyielding to foreign influence.

Steve Yuhas is a columnist and radio talk show host on KOGO AM 600 in San Diego.  He can be reached at steve@steveyuhas.com