What happens when the government or ruling party decides that documentary proof of American citizenship is not enough? I think we know.
On Tuesday (10/27/26), the Associated Press reported that a man with a Florida birth certificate who has held an American passport for fifteen years has been detained for nearly ten months, facing deportation to Jamaica.
His name is Phillip James. Court records dating to 1988 corroborate his birth certificate.
James has schizophrenia and has repeatedly claimed to be Jamaican and the son of a former Jamaican prime minister. Medical experts say those claims are delusional.
The Department of Homeland Security says his birth certificate is fraudulent, but provided AP no supporting evidence.
Meanwhile, at a Trump rally in Michigan Sunday, David Beamer, supporting Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers, called Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed un-American and warned that he would invade and occupy the country.
El-Sayed was born in Michigan. Beamer said: “A birth certificate doesn’t make you an American.”
Increasingly, we are hearing claims that American citizens are somehow un-American. And now we have a case where the government is attempting to deport a man despite substantial documentary evidence that he was born here.
What happens when the government or ruling party decides that documentary proof of American citizenship is not enough? I think we know.
