The son of an American citizen and military veteran – but who has no citizenship to any country – was deported from the US to Jamaica in late May.
Jermaine Thomas’s deportation, recently reported on by the Austin Chronicle, is one of a growing number of immigration cases involving military service members’ relatives or even veterans themselves who have been ensnared in the Trump administration’s mass deportation program.
As the Chronicle reported, Thomas was born on a US army base in Germany to an American citizen father, who was originally born in Jamaica and is now dead. Thomas does not have US, German or Jamaican citizenship – but Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agency deported him anyway to Jamaica, a country in which he had never stepped foot.
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In another recent case, a US army veteran and green-card holder left on his own to South Korea. His deportation order was due to charges related to drug possession and an issue with drug addiction after being wounded in combat in the 1980s, for which he earned the prestigious Purple Heart citation.
“I can’t believe this is happening in America,” Sae Joon Park, who had held legal permanent residency, told National Public Radio. “That blows me away – like, [it is] a country that I fought for.”
That is the situation where the 14 page form mentioned in the article about paying for a Certificate of Citizenship comes in. He should have gotten his papers in order, years ago.
What is Form N-600, Application for Certificate of Citizenship?
Form N-600, Application for Certificate of Citizenship, is filed to obtain a Certificate of Citizenship which serves as evidence of your or your child’s U.S. citizenship. You may file Form N-600 if you were born abroad and are claiming U.S. citizenship at birth through your parents. You may also file Form N-600 to obtain evidence of citizenship if you automatically became a U.S. citizen by operation of law after your birth but before you turned 18 years of age. A parent or guardian may also file Form N-600 on behalf of a minor child.
As the US grows progressively nuttier, papers will matter more and more.
I solicited and got my German citizenship in 2005. The original certificate is in my apartment in Caracas. I’m requesting a new German passport as the old one is expiring. The required documentation includes the original certificate or a certified copy. Since the original is not available I contacted the prescribed office to request the certified copy. It would have cost some 50€ but the agency never replied. I contacted the German Embassy in Caracas and they kindly sent me a copy of my birth and citizenship certificates. Belatedly I got an email from some German officer explaining why they don’t want to have lots of these certificates circulating specially “old one” (mine is 20 years old) as the citizenship could well have been revoked. She further explained that if the consulate or embassy had any doubts they could/should consult the relevant office.
My appointment to solicit the passport in Lisbon is for this Thursday. I have a huge collection of documents, copies, and emails prepared. Let’s see how it goes.
The Portuguese immigration agency AIMA has a huge backlog since Covid-19. They prolonged the validity of residence credentials but even that new date has expired. You are told to request an appointment by telephone which I have been doing almost daily for well over six months. When I get a connection the reply is, “We are sorry to inform you that we have no vacancies at the moment to organizers.” Let’s see how that works out! As a life saver I have a criminal record document dated September 2024 to prove I have been trying to get the residence permit for months and have not got it not for trying.
The Captain
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More Mac PITA
On macOS, holding down a key no longer automatically repeats the character due to a default setting. To enable key repeating, you need to adjust the “Key Repeat” and “Delay Until Repeat” settings in System Settings > Keyboard. If the key is repeating but not displaying special characters (like accents), ensure “Key Repeat” is enabled, according to Apple Support.
There is one particular US Senator, who ran for POTUS some years ago, who was born in Canada, with one US citizen parent. I wonder if he has his “Certificate of Citizenship”, or if he needs to be deported, until he can obtain one?