President’s Message

The Constitution and Me

By Anh Le Kremer

Anh Le Kremer is a former business litigator at Stinson, LLP. She is currently the chief operating officer and general counsel for Nystrom & Associates, a behavioral health organization headquartered in Minnesota. This year, National Past President W. West Allen wrote a five-part series on the U.S. Constitution focused on the principles of Popular Sovereignty, Federalism, Separation of Powers, the Bill of Rights, and the Rule of Law as part of his presidential messages. They are well written and comprehensive, and I would encourage you to read them if you haven’t had the chance. I’m taking a bit of a different approach with my presidential message and wanted to share a personal story about what the U.S. Constitution means me.

Most of us are familiar with the U.S. Constitution, having learned about the Bill of Rights in grade school. And for us lawyers, we learned about the Fourteenth Amendment, the due process clause, in con law class. But there is a section of the Fourteenth Amendment that holds a personal meaning to me—the citizenship clause—which states that “All persons born or natural-

ized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

This clause is significant to me because I was born in Vietnam, and my family immigrated to the United States in 1985, a month shy of my ninth birthday. I’m an American today, with all the rights and privileges that come with citizenship, thanks to my mother, who became a naturalized citizen in 1990. My mother applied to become a U.S. citizen exactly five years (to the month) after our family first arrived in the United States, which was the earliest that she could submit such an application and meet the residency requirement. My mother will tell you that becoming a U.S. citizen was very important to her because, among other things, she wanted her children to grow up as Americans in full pursuit of the American dream.

The road to citizenship was not easy for my mother, who is not fluent in English. In addition to meeting the residency requirements, she had to show that she was able to read, write, and speak basic English and demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of U.S. history and government. I remember helping her study for the civics exam and thinking that most kids in my class would be unable to answer the questions about our branches of government or name all of the congressional delegates from their state. My mother spent hours studying and passed the civics exam—she was so happy! In addition to demonstrating knowledge of U.S. history and government, she had to exhibit good moral character, express a loyalty to the principles of the U.S. Constitution, and be willing to take the Oath of Allegiance.

I was with my mother during her citizenship interview and sat there proudly as she answered questions about her willingness to agree to live by, defend, and support the principles stated in the Constitution, in-

cluding her willingness to dig trenches in a time of war. (Yes, that’s one of the things she was asked.) I was by her side when she took the Oath of Allegiance, which was such a proud and emotional moment for me. Not everyone has an opportunity to remember the moment they became an American. I was there to witness my mother’s moment, and my moment. 

This clause is significant to me because I was born in Vietnam, and my family immigrated to the United States in 1985, a month shy of my 9th birthday. I’m an American today, with all the rights and privileges that come with citizenship, thanks to my mother, who became a naturalized citizen in 1990.