Recently, a lot of attention has been on the role of the Nationality in relationships. In a recent article by Dr. Steven Hendlin, he makes some interesting and valid points about Nationality in relationships. One thing that needs to be mentioned at this point is the very important point of Nationality when it comes to dating and love. Nationality has been defined as “the mental state or sense of belonging to a group or community. Often used as an ethnic or cultural indicator, nationality can also provide clues about ancestry, the degree of genetic separation, and the frequency of genetic variants within a population” (Websters Encyclopedic Dictionary).
The question many have been posing is whether or not Lisa Jean-Francois, the so called “Global Virgin”, fits into the mould of a Global citizen. According to the definition of Global, “a person who is thought by others to be a member of a particular group or nation irrespective of nationality or race”. According to Dr. Hendlin, there are at least two possible answers to this question: first, she may belong to a certain group of people of which she is proud; second, that she might be a Global citizen because she has a passport and other travel documents that would show that she is a national of the United States or Canada, or some other country. She could also be a Global citizen because she has certain citizenship in other countries such as England, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, etc., or because she has an immigrant background or at least a Green Card, even though her parents and grandparents were not citizens of any country. For purposes of this article, we will focus our discussion on the first answer, which seems to be the most likely one.
At the time of this writing, according to the Social Security Administration’s Annual Summary of Benefits for the Calendar Year 2021, Lisa Jean-Francois is not a United States national nor a Canadian citizen according to the immigration authorities’ records. However, she is a Canadian by birth. In some ways, this should not be surprising: according to the most recent statistics, almost half of all First Nations, Mennonite, and Atpaca Indians are neither United States citizens nor Canadian citizens. There are no statistics available regarding the number of First Nations and Mennonites who are either United States citizens or Canadian citizens. Assuming that Lisa Jean-Francois is a Canadian by birth, this issue should be of some comfort to you, especially if you were thinking about becoming a United States citizen in order to secure a free college education or professional advancement in your line of work.