Can I change my status from a United States citizen and become a State citizen/national?
The United States and the states themselves are separate political organizations and regions. The United States is the federal government where representatives from each state are sent to legislate laws for general public health, safety, and welfare. There are theorists that contend the United States is a different geographical location than the United States of America since the United States refers to the federal government and Art. I Sec. 8 cl. 17 of the federal Constitution states that they shall have exclusive legislation rights in the 10 mile square of Washington D.C.
While there may in fact be two separate and distinct jurisdictions, the Supreme Court in Hooven & Allison Co. v. Evatt (1945) clarified the United States has three different meanings:
- Sovereign Nation: The name of the United States as a sovereign entity among other nations.
- Territorial Extent: The geographical territory over which the sovereignty of the United States extends.
- Collective States: The collective name for the states that are united under the Constitution.
It is the second definition that theorists believe gives them the right to separate from the United States jurisdiction as a citizen of the United States and to choose being only a State citizen national of the state wherein they reside or were born. These theories have been dismissed repeatedly in both state and federal courts as frivolous arguments.