The continuing Liburd/Hamilton Saga

A case will begin to be heard in the high court shortly; it is one in which Cedric Liburd, a former minister of government, has challenged Eugene Hamilton’s eligibility to sit in the parliament.  All will recall that Hamilton defeated Liburd in the elections of January 25, 2010.

Liburd contends that Hamilton is the holder of United States travel documents and that this disqualifies him. He proffers the argument under the rubric of Section 28 (1) a of the Constitution of the St Kitts and Nevis, which states, in part, that: “A person shall not be qualified to be elected or appointed as a member if he is, by virtue of his own act, under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state;”. Since this matter became an issue approximately three years ago, the general consensus has been that a person who holds citizenship with another country is disqualified from being appointed or elected to any position in parliament.

In at least one forum that I read about, Hamilton tabled his valid “Green Card” which, in my view, should have brought the matter to a close there and then. My reason for saying so is that, simply described, a “Green Card” is simply permission granted by the United Stated to a non-national to legally reside there. The online encyclopedia www.wikipedia.org, describes it as: “…an identification card attesting to the permanent resident status of an alien in the United States of America…”. The site also mentions that the permanent resident is not entitled to many of the rights of the citizen and is not burdened by as many obligations as is the citizen.

In obtaining a Green Card, one does not have to swear an oath of allegiance to anyone or anything. As such, there is no renunciation of one’s allegiance to the country of his birth. In the eyes of US authorities, and at all material times, the Green Card holder is simply a documented alien who, having sworn no allegiance to the United States is owed no allegiance by the United States. Let me exemplify this; in the recent earthquake in Haiti, some Haitians who lived in the United States were caught on the ground in Haiti. When the United States provided transportation to persons wanting to return to the United States, only those who were citizens of the United States were catered for. 

Not long ago, I was discussing this same issue with a Jamaican associate here in New Jersey. He related an instance in which, some years ago, he was vacationing in Jamaica and was confronted by the prospect of the possible closure of the airport because of an approaching hurricane. He said he hurried to the airport and indicated that he wanted to leave on the next available flight but it was only when he established that he was a citizen of the United States that he was allowed onto a flight. Had he been just the holder of a Green Card, he would have been stuck.

All who have travelled to the US are confronted by the signage in the immigration area that differentiates between the citizen and all others. The holder of a Green Card would not fare well if he went into the line for citizens. 

One of the differences between a Green Card holder and the citizen is that, if a Green Card holder retires and leaves the United States, his/her Social Security pension would never follow him. By contrast, the citizen’s pension follows him/her whithersoever he/she goes.

Another difference is that, if a Green Card holder is found guilty of certain crimes, as has been demonstrated time and again, he will be repatriated to the place of his birth. However, if he were to become a citizen, he could never be deported because his oath of allegiance would have required him to renounce his allegiance to the country of his birth and to redirect that allegiance to the United States of America. He can, therefore, not be deported from the country to which he has pledged allegiance; by the same token, he cannot be deported to the country that he has renounced.

Now, let’s get back to the Liburd/Hamilton saga. From all appearances, Mr. Hamilton has demonstrated that he is the holder of a Green Card, and according to the preceding discussion, he cannot hold both Green Card and US passport. That demonstration should have caused Mr. Liburd to sit up and pay attention. His insistence on hanging on to this case brings to mind a documentary I saw some time ago. A baboon looked while a man took his time and drilled a hole in a tree and put some seeds in. When the man moved away, he curiously approached the tree, reached in and grabbed a handful of the seeds and became stuck because his hand, being full, was too big. As such, the man came back caught him. All he needed to do was to let go of the seeds and run. 

From my perspective, the idea that Mr. Liburd is proceeding with this case seems foolhardy.  One question emanates from his dogged insistence, and that is whether or not he is funding legal the costs from his own resources or are the state’s supposedly deep pockets being relied upon? If he is funding it personally I would drop this like a hot potato and urge him to barrel through.  However, if the state’s resources are in any way involved, in the face of Hamilton’s presentation of proof, this would be spending that is of a wanton and reckless nature, in light of the dire economic circumstances in which the nation finds itself.

I hope that better judgment prevails.