In the title of this article, Issa has a Nationality. Is it legitimate or can it be considered a misnomer? The short answer is no, it’s not a misnomer. Her Nationality is rooted in an interesting clause in Article 13f of the Universal Health Care Supplement Regulation signed by former President George W. Bush. It states:
“A natural-born citizen of the United States is a citizen of the country at the time of birth, but may be one of many dual nationalities, for example, an American, a foreign national under the citizenship law, a resident alien, or a dependent under the immigration laws of the United States who is also a citizen of the country at the time of birth.” What does this mean? Well, her citizenship is tied to the citizenship of the country where she was born, but her nationality is tied to her spouse, or spouse-nationality if you prefer. If Issa had been born in the USA, she would have been a US citizen at the time of birth, and her citizenship would not have been affected by this provision. However, since her husband was an American, she is considered a dual national under the law.
So, in sum, there’s no doubt that Issa is an American citizen at the time of birth, but she is not necessarily a US citizen by choice, and the ambiguity of her citizenship status is probably a result of that. This is not to say, however, that this is an illegal act. Neither is it a violation of any law by Secretary Chu or by anyone else for the Obama administration to classify somebody as a citizen based on birth, but rather than by birthright. This is all part of the complicated bureaucracy of the US Government and, unfortunately, when bureaucracy runs amuck, mistakes are made. Unfortunately, that mistake could cost the Obama administration much-needed political points in upcoming elections.