Arab countries are very sensitive to the word "Israel" on passports Americans who travel widely in the Middle East are routinely issued two passports, because anyone presenting a passport stamped by the Israelis will be denied entry to a number of Arab countries. They don't deny that placing "Israel" on a passport might cause some adverse reaction from Arab states. Menachem Zivotofsky's lawyers argue that the "place of birth" designation of a passport is for identification only, and doesn't implicate the "recognition power." In addition, his brief argues, the United States allows persons born in Israel proper who object to that listing on their passport to have only the city of birth listed it is unfair, they imply, to discriminate against Americans born in Jerusalem who do want "Israel" on their passports. an exclusive power to "establish an uniform rule of naturalization" and the power to "regulate commerce with foreign nations." Though Congress now authorizes the issuance of passports, the federal government in the early republic issued them with no statutory authority. By the 20th Century, it had become hornbook law that the president is "the sole organ of the Nation in its external relations."Ĭongress's claims authority over passports, drawing from an inferential power (initially shared with the states) to prohibit the "migration or importation of. Edwards, said that deciding such questions was clearly an executive power.Īrticle II, the sketchy outline of executive power, says that the president "shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers " the only other mention of foreign affairs is the grant of power to make treaties "by and with the advice and consent of the Senate." Beginning with George Washington, presidents have construed the "receive ambassadors" clause as a grant of power to determine which governments are recognized and what the nation's policy toward them shall be. Two of the three judges held that the case is a "political question," meaning that the two political branches should work it out and that courts have no role to play. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia dismissed the case. His American-born parents are suing to require the State Department to write "Israel" for his place of birth.
Menachem Zivotofsky, Jerusalem-born, turned 9 on October 17. Bush signed it, but issued a "signing statement" that said that the Jerusalem section "impermissibly interferes with the President's constitutional authority to conduct the Nation's foreign affairs and to supervise the unitary executive branch." Since then, the State Department has ignored it. When the appropriations bill reached his desk, President George W. passports, to allow American citizens born in Jerusalem to choose between "Jerusalem" and "Israel" in the "Place of Birth" blank. to move its embassy and directing the State Department, which issues U.S.
In 2002, Congress added language to the State Department's appropriation bill urging the U.S. Meanwhile, the international community, including the United States, insists that the "final status" of Jerusalem can only be determined as part of a comprehensive settlement of the Arab-Israeli dispute.Īmerican supporters of Israel have long demanded that the U.S. Initially, the city was divided but Israel captured it all in 1967 and shortly afterwards proclaimed it as the "undivided capital" of the country. United States foreign policy for the past sixty years has been not to recognize the sovereignty of any one country over the contested city of Jerusalem. But constitutional cases often wrap important issues in seemingly trivial guise. The stakes in the case seem small - whether the words "Israel" or "Jerusalem" should be written in the "Place of Birth" blank on a child's passport. Clinton, argued yesterday in the Supreme Court.
That's the question raised by Zivotofsky v. You know the punch line: "Is this some kind of joke?" Not today, because there's a serious question for one of the three - "What should we write on this passport?" Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Speaker of the House John Boehner, and Chief Justice John Roberts walk into a bar.
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