Faces of the diaspora.

Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter

Some members of the Jamaican Diaspora are objecting to calls made by their colleagues recently for the Jamaican Constitution to be amended to allow persons with dual citizenship to participate locally in political representation.

Irwine Claire, a Jamaican-born director of the Queens-based, non-profit Caribbean Immigrant Services in New York, and Dahlia Walker-Huntington, Jamaican-born attorney-at-law in Florida, had suggested that the Jamaican Constitution be revisited.

But Marvin Watson, who has lived in Canada for the past nine years, and who is also a citizen of that country, says the Jamaican Constitution should not be amended.

"If you are a Jamaican citizen (who) moved to the United States, you have to denounce your Jamaican citizenship before taking political office," Watson tells The Sunday Gleaner. "What about Jamaica's sovereignty? Jamaica should not in any way allow a citizen of another country become member of the House of Representatives," he adds.

Reguirement

Watson, who is currently in the Canadian army, says he decided to become a Canadian citizen because that was one of the requirements to becoming an officer in the Canadian millitary.

Glenis Holland, who now lives in the United States, expresses similar views. He decided to become a United States citizen so that he could participate in the political process in that country, after living there for 26 years.

Pledge of Allegiance

When he became an American citizen, he went before an immigration judge and took the Pledge of Allegiance. "I also agreed to - and everyone else has to - take up arms against any country that should go to war with the Unites States," he explains. "That is, if Jamaica for any reason was at war with America, I, Jamaican-born, would take up arms against Jamaica. That was very hard to do, but that is what all Jamaicans who become U.S. citizens agree to," he continues.

He further argues that when former Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party and Prime Minister Edward Seaga wanted to enter representational politics in Jamaica, he did what the constitution required and renounced his U.S. citizenship.

"The Constitution, the supreme law of the land, is correct. Not one word in it should be changed to suit a group of people not even living in Jamaica and who pledge allegiance to a foreign power," states Watson. "If people in the so-called diaspora want to run for office in Jamaica, let them follow the lead of Edward Seaga and renounce their U.S. citizenship," he states emphatically.

dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com