Cross-posted from the Franco-American Flophouse.
The relationship between the American diaspora and the home country is a strange one. There is no official recognition of its existence. Since the early years of the last century, efforts to track the number of Americans civilians leaving the U.S. and living abroad has been half-hearted at best. When asked, the U.S. government replies that it simply lacks the means to conduct a census, which is a rather odd response when you consider that U.S. government is publicly committed to enforcing taxation of American citizens abroad. If you can’t count them and you don’t know where they are, how in heaven’s name are you going to send them a tax bill?
