Is Superman an American citizen?

[xiphias]

No, seriously: he was born on Krypyon to Kryptonian parents. He was RAISED in Kansas by the Kents who raised him as their own. But would he be an American citizen, or is he an illegal, undocumented alien?

Comments

[sinboy.livejournal.com]

I think after a while, he'd have been naturalized.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

In the pre-Crisis area, he was once given a world citizenship by the UN.

[estherchaya.livejournal.com]

wasn't he adopted by the Kents? He'd have gotten their citizenship then.

[steelwngs.livejournal.com]

That would depends on which of his origins you go by. The first version he would have been an undocumented alien.
Second a newest version he would have been an American citizen through adoption.

[folzgold.livejournal.com]

I would assume the Kents took him to a doctor when he was a baby. Gotten some sort of certificate and all. He's employed, and not at a place that would pay him under the table, so he must have a SSN at least.

[mattblum.livejournal.com]

I seem to recall that, in at least one version of Superman's origin in the comics, the Kents pretended that Clark was their biological child, which, since they lived on a farm in the middle of nowhere, was not that hard to do.

[cheshyre]

What I was trying to explain this morning, from an old rec.arts.comics faq over whether Superman could become President:

post-Crisis, the theory seems to be that he can because Kal-El was sent to Earth in fetal form and wasn't truly born until the birthing matrix in the ship opened up in Kansas.

See also Terence Chua's comment in this thread

[(Anonymous)]

The current thinking at DC, for the comics, is that Superman is a Kryptonian citizen and therefore is not an American. Clark Kent, adopted son of Jonathan and Martha Kent, is an American citizen. Essentially, an odd version of dual citizenship.

Bob Greenberger