The All-American Girl Without Citizenship

Alecia Pennington, the young woman in the video posted above, has no way to document that she is a US citizen.  That's because it's the way her parents want it. This really sounds an awful lot to me like part of the very creepy "stay-at-home-girls" movement, where a girl is basically a part of her father's household and under his will until she is "given" in marriage to a suitable man. It's basically like Saudi Arabia without the veil. Without the ability to prove her citizenship, Alecia can't drive, vote, get a job or live a normal adult life. Her parents' exercise of their religion has basically left her like a guest-worker with a stolen passport in her own country--a slave to their intentions.

I was shocked to read that this kind of identification abuse is not that rare, and is viewed by some parents as being within their rights, because they view their children as property. That same kind of "ownership mentality" is revealed in anti-vaxxer parents (I would not be surprised if there was some considerable overlap, there). This is a prime example, though, of where so-called "religious freedom" has to stop--when the exercise actually impairs another person's freedom. It also shows how distrust of government in such "off-the-grid" households creates a disconnect from participation in the world--how "American" is it to raise children who can't prove they really are Americans?