Yes that was my understanding of the situation. Feel free to explain why I’m wrong, that’s why I asked the question. Even the term “foreign national” is something I’m not familiar with and it’s not entirely clear whether you would even use it in some of the cases cited in the article considering that one individual is self described as living overseas when he renounced his citizenship.
A foreign national is anyone that is a citizen of a foreign nation. If an American is renouncing their US citizenship, they must already have gained citizenship of another nation, which makes them a foreign national once they no longer have US citizenship.
If they had no legal rights in the United States, there would be zero tourism or business travel from foreigners to the US because any American could do whatever they want to that foreign person (steal from them, con them, murder them, you name it) without fear of legal repercussions.
So yes, foreigners have the right to use American courts if the injustice they are alleging happened on American soil.
I have a few weird questions if you have time to answer them. How does it work in the case where the person was outside of the USA at the time, seeing as they were not on USA “soil” at the time? It’s just that one of the parties (in this case the federal government) has to be on USA soil?
And how does that work if, say, you’re standing on the USA side of the Mexican border and you throw a brick at someone on the Mexican side? Could the Mexican citizen in this case file a lawsuit in a USA court?
Court jurisdiction can become a really complicated question, but citizenship of the parties has nothing to do with it. If a court has jurisdiction, doesn’t matter if the plaintiffs reside on Mars.
The law and courts apply to anyone with standing. Have you not read news stories when illegal immigrants are challenging their detention? Or Guantanamo prisoners petitioning the court that they shouldn’t be tortured? This is the same thing.
You say inhabitants but it’s clear from the article that at least some of the litigants were not inhabiting USA territory. And I thought the entire point of setting up Guantanamo Bay was that it “technically” wasn’t US soil therefore they are not afforded the same protections.
You are right; it’s not inhabitants. It’s anyone with standing.
I edited my reply for clarity.
French citizens who are rear ended by an American during their vacation, for example, but must return home the next day, still have screws to the courts.
As one would expect.
The location of a person when they file a lawsuit has no bearing on its validity.
That wasn’t me being shitty. That was me asking a genuine question in order to understand just how unfamiliar they were to this subject. Once they answered, you’ll find I explained the entire thing to them.
Do you always assume the worst in people? Real question.
I mean, it’s like asking how can you order food in a restaurant of a different country you’re not a citizen of? Like, you might not be familiar with the topic but you’re assuming some limitation that makes no sense and doesn’t exist.
Except you’re comparing LEGAL SYSTEMS with ORDERING FOOD
They aren’t comparable.
I’m almost positive I could navigate ordering food from almost anywhere in the world, as long as I could speak their language.
But I don’t for a second think I could navigate their legal system, and in quite a few cases from my understanding, I wouldn’t be able to do anything at all as a foreigner.
Sure, it MIGHT be similar enough. But I’m not going to risk it, and I would prefer to at least ask someone with more local knowledge than myself. Probably a lawyer but if it’s only passing curiosity, a simple question on a website will do.
Well yeah, i couldn’t make a lawsuit in my hometown or in a different country without a lawyer either. Yes, you get a lawyer and they file a lawsuit in the appropriate court, whether it’s your home country or a foreign country. Yes, the process will be different but it doesn’t matter which country youre a citizen of.
Do you really think foreign nationals aren’t afforded legal rights within the United States? Real question.
Yes that was my understanding of the situation. Feel free to explain why I’m wrong, that’s why I asked the question. Even the term “foreign national” is something I’m not familiar with and it’s not entirely clear whether you would even use it in some of the cases cited in the article considering that one individual is self described as living overseas when he renounced his citizenship.
A foreign national is anyone that is a citizen of a foreign nation. If an American is renouncing their US citizenship, they must already have gained citizenship of another nation, which makes them a foreign national once they no longer have US citizenship.
If they had no legal rights in the United States, there would be zero tourism or business travel from foreigners to the US because any American could do whatever they want to that foreign person (steal from them, con them, murder them, you name it) without fear of legal repercussions.
So yes, foreigners have the right to use American courts if the injustice they are alleging happened on American soil.
Yes that makes sense now, thank you!
I have a few weird questions if you have time to answer them. How does it work in the case where the person was outside of the USA at the time, seeing as they were not on USA “soil” at the time? It’s just that one of the parties (in this case the federal government) has to be on USA soil?
And how does that work if, say, you’re standing on the USA side of the Mexican border and you throw a brick at someone on the Mexican side? Could the Mexican citizen in this case file a lawsuit in a USA court?
Court jurisdiction can become a really complicated question, but citizenship of the parties has nothing to do with it. If a court has jurisdiction, doesn’t matter if the plaintiffs reside on Mars.
The law and courts apply to anyone with standing. Have you not read news stories when illegal immigrants are challenging their detention? Or Guantanamo prisoners petitioning the court that they shouldn’t be tortured? This is the same thing.
You say inhabitants but it’s clear from the article that at least some of the litigants were not inhabiting USA territory. And I thought the entire point of setting up Guantanamo Bay was that it “technically” wasn’t US soil therefore they are not afforded the same protections.
You are right; it’s not inhabitants. It’s anyone with standing.
I edited my reply for clarity.
French citizens who are rear ended by an American during their vacation, for example, but must return home the next day, still have screws to the courts.
As one would expect.
The location of a person when they file a lawsuit has no bearing on its validity.
No other system would make sense.
Slow your roll, turbo, do you always get this shitty when someone asks a genuine question about a topic they aren’t familiar with?
Real question.
That wasn’t me being shitty. That was me asking a genuine question in order to understand just how unfamiliar they were to this subject. Once they answered, you’ll find I explained the entire thing to them.
Do you always assume the worst in people? Real question.
I mean, it’s like asking how can you order food in a restaurant of a different country you’re not a citizen of? Like, you might not be familiar with the topic but you’re assuming some limitation that makes no sense and doesn’t exist.
Except you’re comparing LEGAL SYSTEMS with ORDERING FOOD
They aren’t comparable.
I’m almost positive I could navigate ordering food from almost anywhere in the world, as long as I could speak their language.
But I don’t for a second think I could navigate their legal system, and in quite a few cases from my understanding, I wouldn’t be able to do anything at all as a foreigner.
Sure, it MIGHT be similar enough. But I’m not going to risk it, and I would prefer to at least ask someone with more local knowledge than myself. Probably a lawyer but if it’s only passing curiosity, a simple question on a website will do.
Well yeah, i couldn’t make a lawsuit in my hometown or in a different country without a lawyer either. Yes, you get a lawyer and they file a lawsuit in the appropriate court, whether it’s your home country or a foreign country. Yes, the process will be different but it doesn’t matter which country youre a citizen of.