CITIZENSHIP, EQUALITY, AND THE SOVEREIGN CITIZEN
1Citizenship and Popular Sovereignty
Citizenship of the United States represents full membership in the American constitutional Republic and participation in the sovereignty vested in We the People. Citizenship carries rights and protections together with civic responsibilities: to respect the constitutional order, participate in representative government, remain informed, exercise civic judgment, and preserve the institutions of the Republic for future generations.
2Equality of Citizenship
A citizen lawfully naturalized under the laws of the United States shall not be regarded as possessing an inferior, temporary, conditional, or second-class form of citizenship. Except where the Constitution itself establishes a specific distinction, every citizen should receive the equal dignity and constitutional protection associated with American citizenship. Lawful naturalization should not create a permanent probationary status.
3Protection Against Arbitrary Revocation
No President, executive official, administrative agency, legislative majority, state government, or other governmental authority should possess unilateral political power to strip a person of lawfully acquired United States citizenship. Citizenship should not be revoked merely because a citizen criticizes government, supports or opposes a political party or administration, participates in peaceful civic activity, exercises protected freedoms, holds unpopular opinions, or subsequently commits an offense that does not establish that citizenship itself was unlawfully obtained.
4Fraud or Illegal Procurement of Naturalization
The protection of citizenship does not require the Republic to recognize naturalization unlawfully procured or obtained through material fraud, willful concealment, or material misrepresentation when established according to law. Denaturalization should remain an extraordinary remedy directed toward defects in the lawful acquisition of citizenship, not a general additional punishment for conduct occurring after citizenship was legitimately obtained.
5Due Process
No person should be deprived of citizenship without due process of law. Proceedings seeking denaturalization should provide meaningful notice, identification of the factual and legal grounds, an opportunity to answer and present evidence, an independent judicial proceeding, application of the government's legally required burden of proof, a reasoned judicial determination, and appellate review as provided by law.
6Citizenship and Criminal Conduct
Citizenship should not function as a substitute criminal penalty. A citizen who violates criminal law may be investigated, prosecuted, convicted, and punished through the constitutional justice system. Naturalized citizens should not become a separate class whose citizenship serves as an additional punishment solely because of later criminal conduct. Where conduct demonstrates that naturalization itself was illegally procured or obtained through material concealment or misrepresentation, lawful remedies remain available subject to applicable constitutional protections.
7Citizenship by Birth
Citizenship recognized at birth under the Constitution occupies a different legal position from citizenship obtained through naturalization. Statutory authority to challenge an unlawfully procured naturalization should not be interpreted as a general governmental power to revoke the citizenship of persons whose citizenship exists independently of naturalization.
8Voluntary Relinquishment
Nothing in this statement prevents a citizen from voluntarily relinquishing United States nationality in accordance with the Constitution and laws of the United States. Relinquishment should reflect voluntary action and the legally required intent, not political coercion.
9Citizenship Shall Not Become a Political Weapon
The power to challenge naturalization must never become an instrument of partisan retaliation. Enforcement decisions should rest upon law, evidence, individualized review, equal treatment, and constitutionally permissible considerations rather than political affiliation, criticism of government, peaceful advocacy, or other protected activity.
10The Citizen and the Republic
The Supreme Citizens Charter recognizes that the American constitutional system begins with We the People. Government institutions exercise authority through the constitutional system. Citizenship should never be treated merely as an administrative document capable of cancellation according to changing political preferences. A lawful citizen is a member of the American political community, carrying both constitutional protections and civic responsibilities.
11Principle of the Supreme Citizen
The Supreme Citizen defends the equal citizenship of fellow Americans; rejects political retaliation through governmental power; recognizes legitimate enforcement against fraud while demanding due process; distinguishes disagreement with government from disloyalty to the Republic; accepts responsibility for preserving constitutional government; and recognizes that government remains accountable to the People from whom its authority ultimately derives.
DECLARATION
Citizenship lawfully acquired shall be respected. Citizenship shall not be reduced to a partisan weapon. Naturalized citizens shall not be treated as permanently probationary Americans. Fraud in obtaining naturalization may be adjudicated according to law, but lawful citizenship shall remain protected by due process and independent courts. The Republic belongs to We the People, and the constitutional security of citizenship is essential to the preservation of popular sovereignty.