...Awlaki stripped himself of his citizenship, when he took up arms against his country....
I've seen this claim made by some here, and others elsewhere.
Could you or someone else please point me to the law or constitutional precept that automatically triggers a loss of citizenship? I'm not being snide. I am willing to be educated. But I have never heard of such an automatic trigger.
To my way of reading the constitution, Awlaki's actions would be defined as "treason". From what I can see, there is a constitutional remedy for traitors, and even under that circumstance, I don't see anywhere that says that even the convicted traitor is stripped of his citizenship prior to execution.
Where does it say that "taking up arms" against the country results in an automatic loss of citizenship? (I'm using the "taking up arms" language for the sake of discussion, even though the evidence seems to suggest that Awlaki was a spiritual and rhetorical leader, not a material or operational one.)
He was not stripped of his citizenship. He renounced it on his own, by essentially declaring war on his country. This explains it much better than I can:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2786701/postsLoss of nationality, also known as expatriation, means the loss of citizenship status properly acquired, whether by birth in the United States, through birth abroad to U.S. citizen parents, or by naturalization. As a result of several constitutional decisions, §349(a) of the current Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA") provides that U.S. nationality is lost only when the U.S. citizen does one of the specified acts described in INA §349, voluntarily and with the intent to give up that nationality.
"taking an oath or making an affirmation or other formal declaration of allegiance to a foreign state or a political subdivision thereof after having attained the age of eighteen years."
"entering, or serving in, the armed forces of a foreign state if (A) such armed forces are engaged in hostilities against the United States, or (B) such persons serves as a commissioned or non-commissioned officer;"
"performs an act made potentially expatriating by statute accompanied by conduct which is so inconsistent with retention of U.S. citizenship that it compels a conclusion that the individual intended to relinquish U.S. citizenship."
"committing any act of treason against, or attempting by force to overthrow, or bearing arms against, the United States, violating or conspiring to violate any of the provisions of section 2383 of Title 18, or willfully performing any act in violation of section 2385 of Title 18, or violating section 2384 of Title 18 by engaging in a conspiracy to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, if and when he is convicted thereof by a court martial or by a court of competent jurisdiction."
