Today is Father’s Day.

Much is being made in the media of the Orlando shooter, Omar Mateen, being an American citizen, and not a Muslim terrorist.  Perhaps I’m confused but I don’t get the distinction. Doesn’t the term ‘American’ describe one’s nationality; whereas ‘Muslim’ denotes a religion? They are not mutually exclusive terms.

There are two separate issues here that need be considered.

1. What is an American citizen?
2. What is a religion?

First:  Let’s take American citizenship. My next post will deal with religion.

The fourteenth amendment to the Constitution prescribes two pathways to American citizenship:  birthright and naturalization.

‘Birthright’ means anyone who is born on American soil. The concept of ‘anchor babies’ was never considered by the framers of the Constitution. Therefore, today a woman illegally living in the country can give birth and that baby is considered an ‘American citizen’.

Despite intensive scrutiny of the news and internet, I can find no mention of Mateen’s mother. Omar Mateen’s father, Saddique Mir Mateen,  is a ‘naturalized’ citizen who, prior to the attack in Orlando, had declared himself a candidate for the Afghan presidency. He openly supports the Taliban, and has publicly decried American values that guarantee rights to women, gays and people of color. His platform for this political activity is a non-profit (read tax free) TV company in Florida dedicated to the Taliban cause.  His program is called The Durand Jirga Show. This guy, dear reader, is one spooky individual who, according to quotes from Omar’s teachers poisoned his son’s thinking and contributed to Omar’s emotional imbalance.

Consider that foreigners who wish to become U.S. citizens must file a petition for naturalization and take an examination that shows that they can read, speak, and write simple English and have a fair knowledge of American history, government, and the Constitution. They must be able to prove that they are of good, moral character. Two American citizens whom they know well must verify that the applicant will be a good citizen and loyal to the United States.

Upon being granted U.S. citizenship in 1991, the father recited the oath of allegiance to the U.S.:

“ I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.” (The so help me God clause, as it turns out, is optional.)

The senior Mateen’s actions since becoming naturalized clearly show he lied under oath. That alone should mandate that he be deported to his beloved Afghanistan. Instead, the Obama administration has placed him on a “no-fly” list while they search for an overseas link to ISIS.

Flawed or unenforced immigration policies have led to a series of these unintended murderous consequences including Mateen’s categorization as an ‘American’.  This father should be imprisoned for lying under oath when he was granted citizenship and tried as an accessory to the slaughter in Orlando.

Less publicized, but politically as volatile, is the pregnant woman from Honduras arriving at New Jersey’s Hackensack Univ. Medical Center to deliver a Zika infected baby who has been deemed a destitute “American citizen” eligible for free medical treatment.  Doctors estimate the delivery charge to be over $1 million not counting the lifetime care this disabled child will need. Hers is the third such recorded case in the past three months.

Something is clearly wrong with the system. An amendment to the fourteenth is needed lest we become a nation of wackos and sickos, all needing government support.

You are welcome.