Immigration

Hot button issue these days is immigration. There are 11 million illegal aliens in the US today. I had to go through the arduous process of converting my J-1, "exchange student visa" into a working visa by doctoring in a medically-underserved community. The commitment was for 2 years but we never moved. Turned out to be a big blessing to work and live in a rural community in the Oklahoma panhandle.

I could have become a US citizen many years ago if it were not for the "I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen..." I found the words too difficult to utter. It would have allowed me to pass through customs and immigration in all other countries without much hassle; it would have saved me the trouble of acquiring visas and it would have qualified me to run for public office in the US. Oh but to entirely renounce and abjure the Philippines, for all its troubles and defects, poverty and pollution, diseases and corruption...

Then again, being foreign-born disqualified me from becoming the President of the US.