Story Archive

Statehood for New Mexico

When Gavin Clarkson and his fiancée tried to get a marriage license in his country’s capital, a clerk asked for his passport — his “New Mexico passport.” He’d presented his state driver’s license, but the clerk refused to accept it on the grounds that it was “foreign.” Her supervisor initially confirmed: a passport was required. The clerk even complimented Clarkson’s English, which, he said, his fiancée didn’t believe: she’s the naturalized citizen. Eventually, matters were straightened out: New Mexico has been a U.S. state since 1912. But, Clarkson says, the 20-minute incident might have been avoided if he’d shown his Choctaw Nation I.D. to the clerk at the Washington D.C. Courts Marriage Bureau. (AC/USA Today) ...District of Columbia? That sounds foreign.