[Windflier]

A very reasoned argument, my friend.

...which of the above nine babies would you want to be President someday?

Obviously, I, and any other thinking, patriotic person would pick:

l. Child of citizen mother and citizen father, born in the United States. (natural born citizen)

[Political Junkie Too]

Obviously, I, and any other thinking, patriotic person would pick: l. Child of citizen mother and citizen father, born in the United States. (natural born citizen)

I could be convinced to accept #4:

4. Child of citizen mother and citizen father, born outside the United States. (McCain's case)

with the following proviso:

a) the parents are not permanent resident aliens in the foreign country (a foreign "green card")
b) except if one parent is a working spouse for someone deployed or working for the government.

This has several implications:

• If a family or individual goes overseas for a private business for some period of time and has a child, that child will be a naturalized citizen.
• If a family or individual goes overseas on a diplomatic assignment or military deployment in the service of their country, that child will be a natural born citizen. They are considered to still be within the sovereignty of the United States.
• If a family or individual goes overseas on a short-term tourist, student, or specialty service visa, that child will be a natural born citizen, unless the person violates the visa and fails to return.

This protects soldiers, diplomats, and the casual citizen who happens to be elsewhere during childbirth. Obviously, this protects women more than men. Consider the following scenarios:

• A woman is deployed overseas after getting pregnant, and has the child in another country. The child is a natural born citizen.
• A man is deployed overseas and the wife stays home and has a baby. No change, the child is a natural born citizen.
• A man is living overseas working for a corporation as an ex-pat. His wife stays behind and has a baby in the United States. No change, the child is a natural born citizen.
• A spouse moves the family overseas working for a corporation as an ex-pat, and the wife has a baby overseas. The child is a naturalized citizen.
• A naturalized Indian family travels back to India to have the baby near grandparents, and then returns to the United States when the baby is old enough to travel. The child is a natural born citizen.

Obviously, this would all require an amendment to put in place the citizen statuses of all nine types of children, reserving #1 and #4+proviso for natural born status. Article II Section 1 would remain unchanged.

-PJ