- Is the applicant a USA citizen?
To expand on this one...
- If no... does the applicant have a work permit?

I wouldn't want you to think I'm contradicting my claim that I don't care where the applicant was born. All I care about is if the applicant has a lawful right to work in USA, and if he's fit for the job. And that is the criteria of the vast majority of employers across America. I'm not going to believe that a Western nation full of decent people is broadly racist. I know USA has race problems, more so than we have here in the UK, but I also truly believe that most Americans are decent people.