Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related Idea for a fic

This idea popped into my head this morning. What if the Lane family moved to say Europe or another country for Sam's work before Lois was born? Then when Lois was in high school she became a foreign exchange student to the US. Maybe ending up in Smallville either living with the Kents, the Harris' or the Langs'. I think it would be fun to see Lois and Clark meet early on with Lois leaving after a year. Just a thought.
Sarah

I like your idea. Was thinking about it and I remembered--there are "domestic exchange" student programs as well. Your idea gives Lois more of a fish-out-of-water situation-- different language, culture, landscape, etc.--but the domestic option would simplify the background for a shorter story.

I was having a fish-out-of-water experience when I found out about domestic exchanges and it made quite an impression on me at the time. My mom had moved to California within a few weeks of my H.S. graduation. Shortly afterwards I went into the Army for two years and then I went to school out there, but I hated the climate and I was homesick as hell for Michigan. The thought of being back in Michigan, going to school here and getting credit back there was really appealing.

Interesting idea, but of course she'd never be able to run for President. Knowing Lois, that would end up annoying her.

If Sam and/or Ellen were US citizens she could still have US citizenship, and therefore be qualified to be president, even if she never had lived here. I doubt Lois would want to be president, though. I see her as knowledge hungry, more than power hungry.

Yup, per the 1790 Naturalization Act, ANY child born of two United States citizens (or a United States citizen and anyone from the US territory like Puerto Rico) and has lived on US soil for at least a year is automatically a natural born citizen. There is also a later change that pretty much defines Barack Obama as a citizen regardless of the "birther"s statements as he was both born of at least one US citizen (unless they're somehow claiming that his MOTHER revoked her citizenship before he was born).

Anyone born in the United States is automatically a U.S. citizen, regardless of whether their parents are citizens or not (and in spite of what one of my geography-challenged students thinks, Hawaii is 1) a state and 2) really exists).

And now a new plot bunny has hopped into my head. I'd better go start a new thread about it.

Just thought I'd throw my two cents in... Even if someone is a US citizen, if they were not born in the US they are not eligible for the presidency. So if Lois were born in Europe, she could not run regardless of her and her parents' citizenship status.

Sam was in the military in the comics continuity, so it's plausible. However, no matter what military base she was living in at the time, english would still be her native language, since she'd be living on base and attending base schools. She'd definitely have exposure to other languages because of the different countries where her father was stationed.

Karen: Oh, fudgemonkey. I meant to quote and not edit, and I'm not sure how to undo. I'm so sorry!

OK, right, I was misunderstanding how that law worked.

That's actually a matter of some debate--no one proven to be born outside the United States has ever become President (it's rumored that Chester A. Arthur was born in Canada, but in truth he was most likely born in Vermont; and in spite of various rumors, the evidence is overwhelming that Barack Obama was born in the state of Hawaii). The earliest U.S. Presidents weren't born U.S. citizens, because the U.S. didn't exist, but the colonies in which they were born were part of the United States by the time these men were elected President. There have been unsuccessful presidential candidates who were definitely born outside the United States (Lowell P. Weicker was born in France, George Romney was born in Mexico, and John McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone). Then there was Barry Goldwater, who was born in Arizona in 1909, when it was a territory (Arizona became a state in 1912)--and Goldwater's case would certainly be revisited if someone who was born in a territory that became a state wanted to run for President (there are very elderly living Americans who were born in western territories that became states during their lifetimes--Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona; they aren't likely to run for President due to their age, but one never knows; and there are not-so-elderly people born in Alaska and Hawaii when they were territories who could potentially want to run for President--Alaska and Hawaii were granted statehood in 1959, only 54 years ago).

This situation is not really farfetched. The same rules would apply to someone born in areas that are still U.S. Territories today--Puerto Rico, Guam or the U.S. Virgin Islands.

If she was born on a US military base, she probably could run for president. If she was born in a US embassy the same would apply.

If she is like Ted Cruz born two a US-citizen mother and a non-then US citizen father in Canada, then the answer is still probably yes. Why, because generally, "natural born" is interpreted as citizen by birth. Cruz has citizenship from birth, so by most definitions he qualifies.

George Romney was an interesting case because his grandparents took his parents out of the US when they were children because his grandparents were seeking to avoid federal prison time for violating laws against unlawful cohabitation, but even then the general consensus in the late 1960s was Romney was eligible to run.

McCain is not quite the same case as Lois since he was born in a clear US possession, not just a military base. But no one argued he was ineligible to run because he was born in what is now Panama. Those born in the Philippines to non-US citizen parents in 1938 when it was a US possession would be the most intriguing test case.

Anyone born in the United States is automatically a U.S. citizen, regardless of whether their parents are citizens or not (and in spite of what one of my geography-challenged students thinks, Hawaii is 1) a state and 2) really exists).

And now a new plot bunny has hopped into my head. I'd better go start a new thread about it. </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">But the argument above was if we accept Obama was born in Kenya (which I don't, but if) it doesn't matter, because his mother was still a US citizen. Of course, some may claim that his claimed mother was not his real mother, but that is a whole extra level of conspiracy.

An interesting plot point might be Smallville gets all excited for the exchange student from Japan. And when it turns out to be just plain Lois, an American who grew up in Japan largely on US military bases, people are disappointed.

You could even play on Clark's vaguely Japanese looks and have then go on a date to somewhere out of town, where people know there is an exchange student from Japan, and they all think it is Clark, and ask him if both his father and maternal-grandfather were in the US army.

U.S. citizenship can be pretty complicated at times. I have a colleague who was born in England, immigrated to Greece as a young woman, and married a U.S. citizen who had lived in Greece most of his life. When their children were born, they couldn't be Greek citizens because neither parent was a Greek citizen, and the U.S. wouldn't allow them to be citizens in spite of their father's U.S. citizenship because he'd been out of the U.S. for too long. The kids wound up being British citizens like their mother. However, when the family moved to the United States, my colleague was technically considered an illegal immigrant in spite of being married to a U.S. citizen, but the kids were legally permitted in the United States. My colleague now has dual citizenship (American and British) as do her kids, but if one of them ever wanted to run for President, the case would undoubtedly have to go to court.

Anyone born in the United States is automatically a U.S. citizen, regardless of whether their parents are citizens or not (and in spite of what one of my geography-challenged students thinks, Hawaii is 1) a state and 2) really exists).

And now a new plot bunny has hopped into my head. I'd better go start a new thread about it. </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">But the argument above was if we accept Obama was born in Kenya (which I don't, but if) it doesn't matter, because his mother was still a US citizen. Of course, some may claim that his claimed mother was not his real mother, but that is a whole extra level of conspiracy. </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ah...that's what that argument meant. There's a lot of bizarre conspiracy theories out there about Obama (and a lot of other famous people, but none of them happen to be POTUS). One of the strangest Obama conspiracy theories I've encountered posits that he's actually a shape-shifting alien lizard.

I've NEVER heard of this. It's not like HE stopped being a US citizen because he wasn't in the states. There must be something else going on. Probably it had to do with him not filling out the right paperwork at the consulate office or having filled it out incorrectly, or as I stated in an earlier post before Karen edited my text he may have waited too long to claim them. Trust me, having worked at the State Department, they LOVE and INVENTED red tape*.
Yes, one doesn't automatically even become a legal resident by marrying a US citizen. There's a lot of paperwork involved between getting married and US Citizen. When I married my husband (who is now a US Citizen, but wasn't at the time), we had to go through a lot of paperwork to get him the correct visa and a temporary (two years) residency papers, just for him to enter our country. After two years of marriage, the government double checked our marriage to see if it was still stable and real, that he hadn't become a burden to the state or a criminal, and only then gave him permanent residency. It wasn't until after our son was born over 10 years later that he finally applied for citizenship, which includes an interview, a background check, lots more paperwork, and a test... a WRITTEN test... and an oath ceremony.

*For those who don't know, "Red Tape" is a slang term for paperwork. (i.e. filling out forms)

***

Some of what I wrote above before it was edited out by Karen's mistake:

Naturalization is the switching of one's citizenship from one country to another. Those who have become naturalized in the US cannot become president, one has to be a Natural Born Citizen , which Wikipedia describes as:
I believe Clark would fit under the loosely defined "born to alien parents", had a pregnant Lara had arrived to Earth prior to Kal-El's birth, or as Lynn said happened in comics-canon his ship was considered a "birthing matrix" and he was "born" when it was opened.

Also, Karen's quote, which she attributed to EL, was written by me:
Again, let me state, I believe both Lois and Clark would make an awful President, whether or not they are qualified or allowed to be so. Lois and Clark are action oriented people and the job of President deals with negotiation, diplomacy, and bureaucracy, which can drive even the most patient people insane. Lois and Clark would effect a bigger change as Superman and investigative journalists than politicians. Just my 2 cents.

With the Greek living US parent if they had never lived in the US the kids might not be citizens. I don't know the details but I read once that if you are born overseas of US parents and never live in the US your children are not US citizens. You have US citizenship if you want but it doesn't pass down unless you actually claim it.

There is another bit of the law that might apply to Clark. I can't find it, read an article about the only time it has ever been applied and can't find it. A child found young enough in the US who isn't shown to not be a citizen by a given age is even if latter evidence shows that they weren't. Maybe someone better then I as researching US law can find it.

You have to have lived at least five consecutive years in the US (two of which after the age 14) in order for your children to be eligible for citizenship. So the guy who lived in Greece is still a citizen (that can't be revoked excepting you renounce it or something), but his kids couldn't apply.

I'm learning so much about citizenship with this thread!