The fact is, he may be right. The term “natural born citizen” is not defined in the constitution so it has been up to definition by the courts ever since. Under current law, if a child is born abroad or domestically to at least one American parent, and the parents are legally married, and if the child is declared at birth to be an American citizen, and have not declared allegiance to any foreign power, that child is a natural born citizen.
In situations where only one parent is a United States citizen, he or she must have lived in the United States for at least five years at some point before the child’s birth as a full American citizen, and at least two of these five years must have occurred after the parent’s 14th birthday. In the case of a child born to an American mother, the child is usually considered a natural born citizen, whether or not the mother is married. However, if an American father is involved in a relationship with a foreign woman and the couple is not married, the father may need to fight for the child’s right to citizenship.
Be prepared for incoming.
>> The term “natural born citizen” is not defined in the constitution <<
Correct. There’s no definition. The power to declare who must be naturalized — versus who is defined as being “naturally” born into citizenship — is specifically delegated to the Congress under the Constitution’s Article One, Section Eight.
>> so it has been up to definition by the courts ever since <<
Not really. The Congress has changed the requirements for naturalization any number of times. In so doing, it has simultaneously changed the definition of who is born “naturally” as a citizen.
Fixed it for you. No need to thank me.
I haven't seen this if it's out there. Easy, I could have missed it.
In your scenario, the child certainly is a citizen upon birth, by operation of law, but that could be different from being born a citizen without need for a citizenship grant by operation of law.
So the question here would be whether a child's natural citizenship (i.e., the citizenship he receives from his parent(s) without operation of any law or grant of a Sovereign) can be conveyed by the mother alone, and then whether the citizenship of the foreign father has any impact on the child's natural (born with) citizenship.
The idea of citizenship that one was naturally born with came from the idea that no man could be born stateless. He "naturally" received the citizenship of his father; no Sovereign had to grant that to him.