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Comment by zepolen | Hacker News Reader

"...could not bar an American citizen from boarding a plane, even if a passenger refused to produce any identification at all!"

How exactly can you know if someone is an American citizen if they don't show any government approved ID saying so?

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I'm a German citizen but travel with my Maryland-issued driver's license. There is no info about citizenship on it. Therefore I would say that even non-citizens can claim this right. How would you prove you are a citizen? Your U.S. passport would be the only way.

People like to use the word "citizen" for some reason, even when it is not accurate. The protections of the US Constitution apply to all "people", not all "citizens". The word "citizen" mostly occurs when referring to voting and running for office (both which do require citizenship).

Everyone gets a jury trial, free speech, etc.

People like to use the word "citizen" because it's a way of broadcasting their tribal identity. These little war dances are generally done by people with citizenship of high-status nations; one doesn't tend to see people going around bragging about how they are Togolese citizens, for example. However, it's certainly not a behaviour limited to Americans: I've seen plenty of Brits and Canadians do it too.

Exactly. That is why they can't really bar anyone. Thus the lawsuits.

Its like in Argentina, they have some toll roads but in their constitution they claim that roads may not be charged for. So people pass through the tolls claiming "I am declaring that I am refusing to pay the toll in accordance to our constitution." And vuala, no toll :)

We must use our legal rights to fight back from the government grabbing power.

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