Since never. I’ll get to that below, but story first.
David O’Connor, 77, a U.S. Navy veteran and retired truck driver, moved to Tennessee in 2016, a culture-war red state that doesn’t let furriners drive (see license requirements here).
Now, 8 years later, the state has canceled his driver’s license, claiming he isn’t a citizen. Why? Because he has a Canadian birth certificate. But while that raises the question, it doesn’t rule out U.S. citizenship; it justifies further inquiry, not arbitrary denial. But he’s dealing with bureaucrats.
While the state gets to make driver’s license decisions, it doesn’t make the citizenship rules. Federal law does (read it here), and is as follows:
“8 U.S.C. §1401 The following shall be nationals and citizens of the United States at birth:
… (c) a person born outside of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents both of whom are citizens of the United States and one of whom has had a residence in the United States or one of its outlying possessions, prior to the birth of such person; …”
His birth certificate says his parents are US. citizens. The only thing that might make him a noncitizen is if neither parent resided in the U.S. before he was born. But they “were briefly living in Canada when he was born” (see story here and watch video here). He’s a citizen.
All O’Connor should really need is his birth certificate and something to show a parent’s prior U.S. residency. But that’s not the world bureaucrats inhabit. They think: “You were born in Canada, so you’re not a citizen.” Anything else is above their pay grade. They aren’t paid to figure this stuff out. Even more importantly, they won’t risk doing anything their superiors might question.
That’s what he’s up against. In their world, you must have the correct form. Tennessee’s DMV decreed it will only accept these documents as proof of citizenship. And yes, there’s a federal form for “U.S. Certificate of Birth Abroad” (DS-1350 or FS-545) and “Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the U.S.” (FS-240).
I’ve dealt with a bureaucracy, a parking ticket department. It took me two years to get out of a parking ticket on a vehicle I didn’t own. I had all the paperwork required by state law to prove my non-ownership. Do you think that persuaded the flunkies at the parking ticket window? Of course not. Above their pay grade. The department head had to remove it from the computer system himself. Twice. (Old clunky computer system, which is the only kind bureaucracies have.)
I knew a lawyer who had the same problem at the same parking ticket window. They arrested him. He sued them. The settlement cost them the revenue from 1,600 parking tickets. Do you think they cared? No. If you try to explain something to the window clerks, you’re telling them how to do their job, and they’ll call the cops.
That is the world we live in. Welcome to the real world, Mr. O’Connor. I feel for you. And as one veteran to another, thank you for your service.
Related story: An Ontario woman got thrown in jail in Georgia for driving with a Canadian driver’s license, which is legal there (see story here).