Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we're discussing naturalization as a Plenary Act. I have been reading a lot about this Administration in the United States, Trump specifically, on matters pertaining to Immigration. I've done videos recently, talking about people going to visa interviews, possibly being arrested, issues associated with intending immigrants without documentation coming into the United States. We even did videos in the first Trump Administration. I haven't done anything yet because I haven't seen a lot, but they actually talked about de-naturalization based on fraud, which again de-naturalization is a serious thing, and if there was fraud in a naturalization process, I do get the notion of reversing it. 

But the point of this video is to go into the notion that Naturalization itself occurs under Plenary Power, and Plenary Power is a very different thing than Legal Authority. Let me go over here to law.cornell.edu, quoting directly: "Plenary Power refers to complete and exclusive authority over a particular subject matter constrained only by constitutional limitations. When a governmental body holds Plenary Power, it may legislate or act within that area without requiring additional authorization. The term frequently describes Congress's power under the Commerce Clause, Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the US Constitution, which grants Congress broad authority to regulate interstate commerce. The Supreme Court has likewise recognized Congress's Plenary Power over Immigration, including the admission and exclusion of non-citizens as affirmed in Kleindienst vs. Mandel."  

So yeah, the thing to understand, one, is Plenary Power is different than Legal Authority and it's different insofar as the authority under Plenary Power is far more absolute. Things like the Doctrine of Consular Absolutism and denials of US Tourist Visas over here at the US Embassy for example in Bangkok, or other Embassies around the world under Section 214b, you could argue that's occurring under the Plenary Power that is being exercised by Consular Officers to make factual determinations in Immigration proceedings at Embassies and Consulates abroad; that's basically what they're doing. 

In the context of naturalization though, it's important to understand what Plenary Power is. It's changing facts. This is how I look at the difference between Plenary Power and Legal Authority. Legal Authority, Law is when applied. You basically apply the law to a set of facts, render an opinion, and then the Court hands down a judgment based on its opinion of how the law applies to the facts in a case. When we are talking about naturalization especially, and the use of Plenary Power, Plenary Power is changing a fact; that's the important thing to understand. So when you become a US citizen by naturalization, or in theory as a Thai citizen if you become Thai through naturalization, it's Plenary Power that's being utilized to if you will transmute you as a person from whatever you were before you naturalized, to that nationality. So if you become an American, you're now an American. It's a fact, it's not a legal opinion that you're an American, you are an American, it's a fact. If you naturalize to Thai, you are Thai. Plenary Power changes fact. That's what needs to be understood when you're looking at issues associated with naturalization in any context is that yes, laws will dictate how a case is put together, how petitions are filed, things like administrative regulations will govern how things are processed. But at the end of the day, the actual power that is used to change somebody or to make somebody no longer a non-citizen, and then turn them into a citizen, is Plenary Authority. 

It's pretty profound power and it's something that should not be underestimated and should not be misunderstood and it should definitely be understood that it's very different than Legal Authority. They are two different things and so they have different ramifications when they are utilized in a practical manner.