Letter to H.E. George M. WEAH, PrEsident of the Republic of Liberia

 

7246 Aplin Dr.

June 4, 2018

 

His Excellency, President George Manneh Weah

President, The Republic of Liberia

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

 

Dear President Weah:

The All-Liberian Conference on Dual Citizenship, representing over 500,000 Liberians in the Diaspora extends our profound appreciation for the stand you are taking in support of dual citizenship.  In particular, we wholeheartedly thank you for unequivocally expressing your strong support for Dual citizenship in your first Annual Message.

The loss of citizenship is a nightmare for us, Diaspora Liberians because only a citizen can own land in Liberia. Many of us who acquired or inherited real properties and those who wish to do so want to return home someday and participate in the development of the country. Many have the potential to invest, setup businesses and spur economic activities but dual citizens of Liberian origin cannot legally own real properties.

Chapter 22 of the 1973 Alien and Nationality Law, as amended in 1974, does not allow for Liberians to retain their citizenship upon acquiring additional citizenship abroad. This law does not only strip Diaspora Liberians of citizenship but also precludes us from owning land or other real estate in our native homeland.

Chapter 22 of the National law is in violation of Articles 11 (c), 20 (a) and 95 (a) of the National Constitution in that it discriminates on the basis of gender, automatically imposes loss of citizenship without the constitutionally required due process, and is inconsistent with the 1986 National Constitution. This law also discriminates against Liberian mothers in that it does not recognize children born outside Liberia to Liberian mothers as Liberian citizens but recognizes children born outside Liberia to Liberian fathers as Liberian citizens.

Accordingly, we, the over 500,000 Diaspora Liberians represented by the All Liberian National Conference on Dual Citizenship are appealing to you to issue an Executive Order that puts on hold the enforcement of Chapter 22 of the Alien and Nationality Law regarding the automatic loss of citizenship. We also plead with you to direct the Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs to stop defending Chapter 22 of the Nationality Law in court. We applaud the Senate for the ongoing debate to repeal this law but this issue has lingered for too long. Therefore, an Executive Order is urgently needed to bring immediate relief to the thousands of Diaspora Liberians who are faced with automatic loss of citizenship, while the legislative process unfolds, albeit at a painstaking pace.

We are aware that an Executive order cannot reverse a law passed by the National Legislature, and this is why we are still lobbying with the Legislature to repeal this law. But under our system of government, the President who swears to defend our national constitution, can choose not to enforce a law or a portion of a law that is unconstitutional, unjust and discriminatory. It is against this backdrop that we plead with you, Sir, to use your executive power to implement a policy of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell on Dual Citizenship through an Executive Order.

Executive power gives Presidents broad enforcement authority and broad discretionary power not to enforce law(s) or portions of law(s) they deem to be unconstitutional. This is consistent with the President’s non-enforcement power, under the principle of Separation of Power.

Presidents can veto laws and can refuse to enforce them if they determined that such laws are unjust and unconstitutional.   Under Article 53 of our constitution, Presidents take Oath of Office to support, uphold, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and laws of Liberia, bear true faith and allegiance to the Republic, and faithfully, conscientiously and impartially discharge the duties and functions of the office. As such, enforcing Chapter 22 of the Nationality Law which imposes automatic loss of citizenship without the constitutional due process does not conform to your Oath of Office.

In the United States, the Obama administration declined to enforce laws which the administration determined to be unconstitutional.  For example, the Obama administration refused to enforce the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The Obama’s Department of Justice decided that it regarded DOMA to be unconstitutional and announced that it would no longer defend it in court. In fact, the Justice Department said the administration was under no obligation to defend unjust laws.

By your directive, Sir, the Ministry of Justice can stop defending Chapter 22 of the Nationality Law even on the basis of prosecutorial discretion. A prosecutor’s discretion involves decisions over what crimes to investigate or not investigate, what crimes to charge or dismiss, whom to charge, whether to allow a defendant to plead guilty or be granted immunity from prosecution, and the amount of punishment to be imposed on the offender. For example, the Obama administration without asserting any constitutional basis, simply refused to enforce certain laws as a matter of prosecutorial discretion, including the deportation of thousands of Dreamers who entered the United States illegally. When President Obama’s Dream Act stalled in Congress, which would have given conditional permanent residency to illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children, he issued an executive order that they not be deported. He even went further by introducing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which still allows nearly 2 million young undocumented immigrants to live and work in the United States, contrary to the US Immigration and Nationality Act.

Additionally, the Obama administration through the Department of Justice (DOJ) cited prosecutorial discretion as the basis to largely stop enforcing the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) in states that legalized Marijuana for medical and recreational use.  Although possessing, cultivating or distributing marijuana remains a federal crime, the Justice Department directed federal prosecutors to not focus federal resources on individuals who possess, cultivate or distribute Marijuana in states that allow its use.

Presidents have a degree of discretion in the manner in which they enforce the law through the use of Executive Order, memorandum and proclamation. The Emancipation proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln was an Executive order and not a law passed by Congress that sought to abolish slavery in the United States, which was a legal institution of human chattel enslavement. Executive orders declare government policies and give instructions to government ministries and agencies about how to operate in a certain area. Executive orders played pivotal role in the Civil Rights movement in the United States when Congress was reluctant to act in defending minority rights and in protecting the constitution. President Dwight Eisenhower used an Executive order to put the Arkansas National Guard under federal control and to enforce desegregation in Little Rock, Arkansas. Presidents John F. Kenney and Lyndon Johnson used executive orders to implement affirmative action and equal employment opportunity actions when Congress was not willing to act.

Again, we wish to reiterate that the automatic loss of citizenship without the required due process is a gross constitutional violation. Nearly all Liberians that have assumed citizenship abroad have done so not with the intent to abandon their Liberian citizenship, and we feel strongly bounded by blood to our country of birth. This is why we are asking for your urgent intervention with an Executive Order.

Respectfully yours,

 

Signed:

Eminent Emmanuel S. Wettee

Chairman, The All Liberian Conference on Dual Citizenship

Approved:

President Vamba Fofana

The Union of Liberian Associations in the Americas (ULAA)

 

President Kingston Washington Wleh Sr.

The European Federation of Liberian Associations (EFLA)

 

President Mohamed Salia Dukuly

The Federation of Liberian Communities in Australia (FOLICA), Inc. 

 

President Francis Williams

Conference of Liberian Organizations in the Southwestern United States (COLOSUS)

 

President Julia Mardea Richards

United Liberian Association in Ghana (ULAG)

 

Chairman John F. Lloyd

National Chairman

Coalition of Concern Liberians (CCL )