David Carpenter
Assistant Secretary
for Diplomatic Security
Room 6316
Department of State

Dear Mr. Carpenter:

We are writing to you with regard to DS's decision to require dual citizen applicants and employees of the Department to renounce their dual citizenship. We understand that DS has decided to implement a blanket rule whereby it would deny a clearance to all applicants (or threaten to revoke a clearance for employees) who are dual citizens, regardless of the individual circumstances that have led to dual citizenship, the individual's relationship with the other country, the presence of relatives in that country, etc. While some agencies already have adopted this blanket rule, the Department's past practice has been to address this issue on a case-by-case basis taking into consideration the various factors listed in Adjudicative Guideline C: Foreign Preference. While security issues per say are not negotiable, AFSA wishes to go on record in opposition to DS's new policy.

The Foreign Service is comprised of employees from various ethnic backgrounds, a number of whom are dual citizens of the United States and their country of birth. These individuals help fulfill one of the objectives of the Foreign Service Act, which states that Foreign Service employees "should be representative of the American people, … knowledgeable of the affairs, cultures, and languages of other countries…" Many dual citizen employees have worked for the Department for a number of years and will view DS's change in policy as unfair and unwarranted. In addition, in AFSA's opinion, DS's decision to move to a blanket rule is inconsistent with the Directives and Regulations governing security clearances. In determining whether an individual should get or keep a security clearance, the adjudicator is required to carefully weigh a number of variables known as the "whole person" concept. DS's new policy makes one variable (dual citizenship) the only factor that counts. This is contrary to the "whole person" concept. In addition, the first criteria in Adjudicative Guideline C is "the exercise of dual citizenship" (emphasis added). A person who is a dual citizen but does not hold a foreign passport, vote in a foreign election, own property in a foreign country, accept benefits from a foreign country, etc. does not exercise dual citizenship. Therefore, DS's new policy is contrary to the plain language of the Adjudicate Guidelines.

While the criteria by which DS determines who will get or keep a clearance is not negotiable, the implementation of that policy is negotiable. If DS determines that dual citizenship in and of itself is a bar to a security clearance, DS must treat all applicants and employees in a consistent manner. It is our understanding that DS will require employees to renounce their dual citizenship on a case-by-case basis, as the employees come up for five year updates or are involved in other security related matter (i.e., under investigation by DS). Applicants to the Foreign Service, however, will be required to renounce their dual citizenship immediately or they will not be issued a clearance. If dual citizenship truly makes one a security risk, then DS must treat all employees and applicants in the same manner by requiring that they all renounce their dual citizenship within a specified amount of time. Otherwise employees view the policy as creating a double standard. To implement the change in policy in this manner would also undermine DS's claim that dual citizenship per se creates a risk to the national security.

We would welcome the opportunity to discuss the implementation of this new policy with you. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Louise K. Crane
State Department Vice President

cc: Ambassador Ruth Davis
Peter Bergin