Gabbard was born on April 12, 1981, in Leloaloa, Maoputasi County, on American Samoa's main island of Tutuila.[3] She was the fourth of five children[4] born to Carol (née Porter) and Mike Gabbard. In 1983, when Gabbard was two years old, her family moved to Hawaii. Her father is a member of the Hawaii Senate.[5]
Gabbard was raised in a multicultural and multireligious household. Her father is of Samoan and European ancestry and an active lector at his Catholic church. Her mother, who was born in Decatur, Indiana, is of German descent and a practicing Hindu. Tulsi chose Hinduism as her religion while she was a teenager.[6][4][7]
Gabbard was home-schooled through high school except for two years at a missionary academy for girls in the Philippines.[8] She graduated from Hawaii Pacific University with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration in 2009.[9][10][11]
Eventually, the other four territories listed above gained birthright citizenship through statutes, meaning people who are born there are automatically U.S. citizens. But because American Samoa is the only territory still classified as unincorporated, people who are born there are only considered U.S. citizens if they have a parent who is a U.S. citizen. Otherwise, they have to go through the same lengthy, expensive naturalization process as any other person who isn’t a citizen—with no guarantee that it will be successful.
The lawsuit is the second such attempt within the past decade. The first, filed in 2012, was ultimately unsuccessful, with the Supreme Court ruling in 2015 that the 14th Amendment does not apply to overseas territories. The court decided not to reconsider that ruling when it was brought up again in 2016.
Leneuoti Tuaua, a former marshal for the High Court of American Samoa who holds two chief titles, was one of seven American Samoans who filed the first lawsuit. Tuaua said American Samoans are treated differently whenever they travel abroad, even to places like independent Samoa—the island country next door.
How did she get thru all of the restrictions?
I don’t believe Kamala Harris is eligible either.
Were her parents American? If yes, she is American
She is eligible. “Full stop”.
I’m just here for the bikini pictures, and welp, sadly disappointed.
Would like to see her appointed (by Trump) as White House Special Ditz Counsel...
Put a fork in it
This is a fool’s errand
BRAVO! If more people like you speak up, we may have the possibilty of getting this Article III matter adjudicated by the SCOTUS for the 1st time ever. If we don’t speak up it most cvertainly never will. As things stand now, the odds are long against it being accomplished.
Election season: Time for the “NBC” crowd to wish-cast and day dream about what no court or state Secretary of State has done or is going to do, namely keep a U.S.-born Presidential candidate off of a ballot.
I suppose it might be fun to exchange Venn diagrams and common law texts and apply them to the various candidates with foreign parents, etc... but in the end it will matter not one little bit.
I sense that our side is getting nervous that she could win, which is why we’re seeing these arguments.