This is new one on me.  Last week I had to certify under penalty of perjury; that “I am a U.S. Person.”  We were signing some financial documents and on the page where you give your social security information there was the new phrase “U.S. Person.” 

A United States Person is defined variously by different government agencies. The gist of it is that if you are a citizen, a legal resident alien or a corporation formed under US law you are a U.S. Person.  Some implications of being a U.S. Person are:

·      The NSA is not supposed to spy on a US Person without a court’s permission. 

·      The IRS has permission to tax US Persons. 

·      You don’t have to live in the USA to be a United States Person. 

·      You don’t have to be a person to be a United States Person. You can be a corporation or a group.

Since we had to invent United States Person to keep everyone in nice neat categories I suggest that our rules are too complicated.

U.S. Person appears to be a term invented to fill up the space between those who are not subject to US law, taxes and constitutional protections (Foreigners) on the one side and those who clearly are (US Citizens and resident aliens) on the other extreme.  US Person includes trusts, partnerships and corporations that are formed under US law.  It doesn’t seem to include foreign investors doing business in the US who don’t have permanent resident visas and it doesn’t include persons living in the US who don’t have green cards.

As a service I have below the fold included several US Government agencies definitions of U.S.Person and links.

For people, like me, who want more immigration the last year in the USA has been a series of setback and disappointments.  Arizona passed sb1070 a law making it harder for people who can’t get visas to live in Arizona.  They were followed by Georgia and Arkansas.  The Obama administration said they were going to fight for CIR but only talked.  They didn’t even introduce legislation.  The list goes on:

Immigration Reform Is Our Jewish Responsibility

What the President Should Do, and How We Can Help

"Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”

I applied this wonderful saying from St Francis to the Immigration debate in the USA and came up with this list: 

·      What is necessary is to stop the deportations. 

·      What is possible is to pass the Dream Act. 

·      The impossible, that we can do, is Comprehensive Immigration Reform that includes a path to citizenship for those already here and sensible levels of immigration for responsible people from neighboring countries.

Don't Give Up.