SAHNI ARTICLE 3.3.21 (WORD) (DO NOT DELETE) Spring 2021 Loss of Nationality Rights 5/6/2021 7:21 PM 119 Individuals who are born in the outlying possessions of American Samoa66 and Swain Islands are U.S. nationals but not U.S. citizens.67 As nationals, they are legally required to owe permanent allegiance to the United States. 68 This stipulation of loyalty and patriotism reflects the “legal bond” principle of real and effective nationality framed subsequently in Nottebohm. In contrast, a country may fail to implement its nationality provisions according to its treaty obligations under international law. For example, the Dominican Republic actively enacts and amends nationality and citizenship legislation69 but has not ratified the 1954 or 1961 Stateless Conventions. Yet it is bound to avoid creating statelessness situations under Article 20 of the American Convention.70 It followed the jus sanguinis principle initially,71 but later constitutions adopted the jus soli principle with conditions. Two main categories of residents are exempt from birth citizenship: children of foreign diplomats and children of temporary or migrant workers.72 These individuals are classified as “in transit.”73 The economic migrant category is the more vulnerable group. Economic migration to the Dominican Republic commenced in the early nineteenth century and mainly was from Haiti.74 Many sugar cane and industrial workers settled in the State permanently and raised families.75 However, they often remained undocumented and over time 66. Dudley O. McGovney, Our Non-Citizen Nations, Who Are They?, 22 CALIF. L. REV. 593, 628–32 (1934). 67. See 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(22)(A) (2014). 68. Id. at § 1101(a)(22)(B). 69. Ernesto Sagas & Ediberto Roman, Who Belongs: Citizenship and Statelessness in the Dominican Republic, 9 GEO. J. L. & MOD CRITICAL RACE PERSP. 35, 37 (2017). 70. ACHR, supra note 11, at art. 20. 71. Constitución Política de la República Dominicana, Nov. 6, 1844, at art. 7. 72. “Dominicans are: “All persons who were born in the territory of the Republic, with the exception of the legitimate children of foreigners who are resident in the Republic as diplomatic representatives or who are in the Republic in transit.” Constitución Política de la República Dominicana, June 20, 1929, at art. 8(2); Supreme Court of Justice of the Dominican Republic, Appeal Against the Unconstitutionality of the Ley General de Migración No. 285-04, December 14, 2005; Constitución Política de la República Dominicana, June 13, 2015, at art. 18, published in the Official Gazette No. 10805 of July 10, 2015, states: “The following are Dominicans: 1. The sons and daughters of a Dominican mother or father; 2. Those who enjoyed Dominican nationality before the entry into effect of this Constitution; 3. People born in the national territory, with the exception of the sons and daughters of foreign members of diplomatic and consular legations, of foreigners that find themselves in transit or reside illegally in Dominican territory. All foreigners are considered people in transit as defined in Dominican laws” [emphasis added].” 73. Constitución Política de la República Dominicana, June 20, 1929, at art. 8(2); “. . .non-resident aliens are persons in transit.” Ley General de Migración No. 285-04, August 15, 2004, Official Gazette No. 1029, 1 art. 36.10 (which states, “[n]on-resident aliens are persons in transit.”); Constitución Política de la República Dominicana, June 13, 2015. 74. Dominican Republic—A Life in Transit—The Plight of Haitian Migrants and Dominicans of Haitian Descent, 27 AMNESTY INT’L 001, 1 (2007), https://www.amnesty.org/en/ documents/amr27/001/2007/en/. 75. Id. at 1-2, 4.