The constitution does not define what a natural-born citizen means. And the Supreme Court has never interpreted it.
But you don’t necessarily have to be born within the borders of the United States to be considered “natural-born.” For example, John McCain was born on a military base outside the country. Yet no one would question his legal status if he had won in 2008.
It’s also been widely recognized that if someone is born outside the country to parents that are both Americans, then that child is given citizenship. That is actually very clearly stated in Section 301(c) of the Immigration Act.
But like I said, unfortunately the Constitution gives us practically no guidance on what that term means. SCOTUS hasn’t defined what it means when it comes to presidential eligibility. But I will say this...if Tulsi wins the election, the Supreme Court is not going to take it away from her for this reason. You will NEVER get Roberts to do that.
McCain status was nor recognized that’s why the congress passed an extraconstitutional resolution to cover his ass.-
Some Internet bloggers have speculated that McCain wasn’t actually born in the Coco Solo military hospital in the Panama Canal Zone, but rather a nearby off-base hospital, in Panama
Minor vs Happersett 1875
Chief Justice Waite:
The Constitution does not, in words, say who shall be natural-born citizens. Resort must be had elsewhere to ascertain that. At common-law, with the nomenclature of which the framers of the Constitution were familiar, it was never doubted that all children born in a country of parents who were its citizens became themselves, upon their birth, citizens also. These were natives, or natural-born citizens, as distinguished from aliens or foreigners. Some authorities go further and include as citizens children born within the jurisdiction without reference to the citizenship of their parents. As to this class there have been doubts, but never as to the first. For the purposes of this case it is not necessary to solve these doubts. It is sufficient for everything we have now to consider that all children born of citizen parents within the jurisdiction are themselves citizens.