Yesterday, I heard a news clip about the Iroquois national lacrosse team being stranded in New York trying to travel to the World Lacrosse Championship on tribal passports. The Iroquois invented the sport, so their absence would be a pretty big deal. I'm a little confused on the details, though.

According to the news I heard, the Iroquois Confederacy (site currently down) does not recognize the legitimacy of the United States government, and therefore will not travel on US passports. However, the United States is not guaranteeing re-entry into New York on the Iroquois passports. The Iroquois position makes sense to some degree. There's no reason that anyone, especially a nation with the proud history of the Iroquois, should have to accept unwanted citizenship in any other country.

However, by requesting permission from the US to re-enter New York, the team is in that very same act recognizing the legitimacy of the USA's claim on that land. If the USA was not a legitimate government, the Iroquois would have no need to request entry. If the citizens of the Iroquois Confederacy choose to be Iroquois citizens rather than US citizens, then they need green cards in order to live in US territory. The United States should treat the Iroquois passports just like a passport from any other nation and issue (or not) a visa for a temporary visit. When presented with a foreign passport, I see no reason why the United States should treat it as a domestic one.

That said, this whole border control thing is getting quite ridiculous. The Detroit Marathon crosses over into Canada and back into the United States. And, there are Homeland Security agents along the route, demanding to see every runner's credentials as they cross the border and arresting anyone they find suspicious. There are plenty of ways into the country that would be more convenient for potential terrorists than running 26.2 miles with no baggage or practicing lacrosse enough to earn a spot on the world's 4th best team.

Regardless of the applicability of the Iroquois passports, and regardless of potential to run from Canada to the United States without a passport, there are much larger threats to worry about. Plus, generating some international goodwill by relaxing on some of these issues might actually make the rest of the world hate us a little less and reduce the threat of an attack!

Filed in category: politics