“doesn’t matter where Obama was born. There is no question that his mother was an American citizen.”
Edge919 is correct. Obama’s citizenship, if born in another country, would be governed by the 1952 US Nationality Act (McCarron-Walters Act).
CHAPTER 1 – NATIONALITY AT BIRTH AND BY COLLECTIVE NATURALIZATION
NATIONALS AND CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES AT BIRTH
Sec. 301 (a) (7) A person born outside the geographical limits of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents one of whom is an alien, and the other a citizen of the United States who, prior to the birth of such a person, was physically present in the United States or its outlying possessions for a period or periods totaling not less than ten years, at least five of which were after attaining the age of fourteen years;
Under this statute, Obama’s mother would have been too young to pass on citizenship. Although in this case it applies to Obama’s mother, the code actually doesn’t distingush between the sex of the parents. So a citizen father could not pass on citizenship if he didn’t meet the residency requirement
BTW this section would not apply to Senator Cruz as his mother grew up in the US and she was over the age of nineteen when he was born in Canada. So he was automatically a citizen at birth. Section 301 (a) (1) would apply to Senators Rubio and Santorum and Governor Jindal as they were all born in the US even though both parents were not citizens. They would all be considered natural born.
Thanks for the citation, but I’m aware of this law.
It doesn’t apply because Obama was born in the United States.
Section 301 is naturalization law. It doesn’t make anyone a natural-born citizen. It falls under Title 8 which is called “Aliens and Nationality” ... and then Chapter 12, “Immigration and Nationality” ... and then subchapter III, “Nationality and Naturalization” ... and then “Nationality at Birth and Collective Naturalization.” Natural-born citizenship doesn’t require nationality acts. It’s why the Supreme Court said in Minor there were citizens without need of such provisions, although it was referring to the 14th amendment. The idea is that natural-born citizenship is defined outside of U.S. Code and outside of the Constitution.