I don’t get it. I always thought that if one of your parents were American, you were automatically an American no matter where you were born. Am I wrong?
That’s what I thought too. Now to play devils advocate and just for sh!ts and grins - what would the status of a child born via test-tube baby where the father was a sperm donor from another country and the mother was American?
Seems like the suit is asking the court to define "natural born" once and for all. Is it just born on US soil (in which case an anchor baby would be eligible) or is it by blood (one or both parents are American). Or will they rule both parents must be American AND born on US soil?
My understanding is as follows.
At the time of Obama's birth (presumed to be 1961), if you were born outside the country to one American parent and a foreign national, the American parent must have lived in the U.S. for 10 years to confer citizenship. In addition, five of the 10 years must have been after the age of 14.
Obama's mother had lived in the U.S. for 10 years, but would not have met the "five of 10 years after age 14" requirement because she was only 18 when she gave birth.
None of this is relevant if he was actually born in Hawaii, which I still believe the most likely scenario. Nonetheless it does seem evident that there is something on the original birth cert that he desparately wants to hide.
Here ya’ go!
7 FAM 1131.4-2 Citizenship in Artificial and In Vitro
Insemination Cases
(TL:CON-68; 04-01-1998)
a. A child born abroad to a foreign surrogate mother who is the
natural/blood mother (i.e., who was the egg-donor) and whose claimed
father was a U.S. citizen is treated for citizenship purposes as a child born
out of wedlock. The procedures for proving citizenship under section
309(a) INA, as amended apply (see 7 FAM 1133.4-3 b). The blood
relationship between the child and the putative U.S. citizen father must
be proven. Additional evidence beyond the child’s birth certificate and
statement of the parents is required. Certification by appropriate medical
authorities of all facts and circumstances surrounding the entire
insemination procedure is required. Examples of appropriate supporting
documentation include hospital records from the facility where the sperm
donation was made, affidavit from the doctor who performed the
operation, and possibly blood tests.
b. A child born abroad to a foreign surrogate mother who was not the eggdonor
and whose claimed mother (egg-donor) and/or claimed father was
a U.S. citizen is treated for citizenship purposes either as a child born out
of wedlock to a U.S. citizen mother (if the sperm donor was not a U.S.
citizen) or as the child of two U.S. citizens. The applicable sections of law
generally are sections 309(c) and 301 INA.
c. The status of the surrogate mother is immaterial to the issue of
citizenship transmission. The child is considered the offspring of the
biological parents and the appropriate INA section is applied. Evidence to
establish the blood relationship between the child and the biological
parents would be similar to that mentioned in 7 FAM 1131.4-2 a.