Posted on 06/11/2008 9:15:05 AM PDT by Hal1950
Bloggers are raising questions about Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's qualifications to be U.S. president, because of the secrecy over his birth certificate and the requirement presidents be "natural-born" U.S. citizens.
Jim Geraghty, reporting on the Campaign Spot, cited the "unlikely" but still circulating rumor that Obama was born not within the United States, but elsewhere, possibly Kenya.
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
Who is a natural-born citizen? Who, in other words, is a citizen at birth, such that that person can be a President someday?
The 14th Amendment defines citizenship this way: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." But even this does not get specific enough. As usual, the Constitution provides the framework for the law, but it is the law that fills in the gaps.
Currently, Title 8 of the U.S. Code fills in those gaps. Section 1401 defines the following as people who are "citizens of the United States at birth:"
* Anyone born inside the United States
* Any Indian or Eskimo born in the United States, provided being a citizen of the U.S. does not impair the person's status as a citizen of the tribe
* Any one born outside the United States, both of whose parents are citizens of the U.S., as long as one parent has lived in the U.S.
* Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year and the other parent is a U.S. national
* Any one born in a U.S. possession, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year
* Any one found in the U.S. under the age of five, whose parentage cannot be determined, as long as proof of non-citizenship is not provided by age 21
* Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is an alien and as long as the other parent is a citizen of the U.S. who lived in the U.S. for at least five years (with military and diplomatic service included in this time)
* A final, historical condition: a person born before 5/24/1934 of an alien father and a U.S. citizen mother who has lived in the U.S.
Anyone falling into these categories is considered natural-born, and is eligible to run for President or Vice President. These provisions allow the children of military families to be considered natural-born, for example.
Source - http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_citi.html
That pretty much covers McCain as well who was not born in the United States but in Panama.
This is really a non-issue and conservative bloggers are just reaching for straws instead of actually working on Barack's Marxist/Communist philosophies.
BWAHAA! LOL! Freudian slip. Yeah, coffee crisps and Alan Thicke are big in the old Canal Zone right now? No wonder Reagan was so bent on preventing those Hosers from taking out canal! ;-)
Obama was born in Kenya and so is not eligible to be president. McCain was born in Panama and so is not eligible to be president. Hillary was born in Chicago and is the only real American. She must be the president.
:D
The truth is: it’s complicated.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/06/02/expats_ed3_.php?page=1
Exactly - therein lies the rub. If his birth certificate doesn't have an attending physician's signature on it, then we can question WHERE he was born. Let's see the certificate.
I think you have an excellent point about whether or not Obama's parents were considered married according to American law IF he was born in Kenya or anywhere other than the US. I could care less about illegitimacy in this day and age; that's not his fault. But we do have laws about eligibility for becoming president. In this day and age when the world seems to want to tear down our national boundary, it's critical that we abide by the letter of the law.
I have seen at least two reputable reports that Obama has refused permission to see his birth records. It is simply untrue that this has been made up.
Do we know what he is hiding? No. But we do know that he is refusing to release his birth records. Under the laws of Hawaii, they cannot be accessed without the individual’s permission, and he has at least twice refused to give that permission to legitimate inquiries.
Are you really sure that no birth certificates issued in any state of the United States at any time during the 20th Century listed such information? I agree that currently, that may be the case. But ever?
So he would be listed as the Bastard child of.....
Well, there went my drink all over my screen.
Well, this has occurred to me, too. What happens if he is elected president and THEN he is discovered to be unqualified according to the clear statement of the U.S. Constitution?
Will he step down? Of course not. Will he be forced out on constitutional grounds? I doubt it, what with a Democrat controlled congress, a leftist press, and an Obama-loaded Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court of New Jersey voted 7-0 on a similar point of law when Frank Lautenberg was illegally put up at the last minute for election. What else could you expect in New Joisey, even from the Republican judges?
So, it’s clearly better to raise the question before this goes too far and Obama controls all the levers of power, much as clinton did earlier.
If I remember my history lessons, I believe there are two laws in play with regard to citizenship:
1. The Law of the Blood - You are a citizen of the country your parents are a citizen of; and
2. The Law of the Soil - You are a citizen of the country you were born in.
If you were born in Canada to an American parent, you have dual citizenship. It is beneficial that you declare citizenship to one country, but not required.
-PJ
Once again I will state that I think the entire issue is bogus, as I do not believe that Obama was born outside the US.
Naturalization of children on application of citizen parent
The naturalization of children in the United States is administered by Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS). A U.S. citizen parent who is unable to transmit U.S. citizenship to a child born aboard as a result of an inability to satisfy the transmission period requirement, may apply for the expeditious naturalization of that child. One of two prerequisites must be satisfied: Either 1) the child must be residing permanently in the U.S. with the citizen parent pursuant to a lawful admission, or 2) for a child residing abroad, a citizen parent or the child’s U.S. citizen grandparent must have been physically present in the United States or in its outlying possessions for a period or periods totaling not less than five years, at least two of which periods were after the child attained the age of 14 years. The U.S. citizen grandparent’s physical presence in the U.S. allows for the expeditious naturalization of a child without permanent resident (”green card”) status.
CIS procedures should be as follows:
1. The applicant forwards the N-600 application for certificate of citizenship, along with supporting documents, to INS field office in the United States that has jurisdiction over the U.S. citizen parent’s or U.S. citizen grandparent’s residence.
2. CIS determines whether the applicant is eligible, approves application, and then forwards a letter and naturalization appointment date to applicant.
3. The applicant presents CIS approval and appointment letter to U.S. consular post in his or her home country.
4. The U.S. consular post issues a B-2 visitor visa to the applicant.
This process will allow parents to make a one- stop visit to the United States for purposes of naturalizing their child as a U.S. citizen. The law also provides that the illegitimate child of a U.S. citizen parent may be naturalized. An illegitimate child is considered eligible to become a U.S. citizen if:
1. The child was born after December 23, 1952, and the mother was a U.S. citizen at the time of the child’s birth and had been physically present in the United States for a continuous period of one year prior to the child’s birth, or
2. The father is a U.S. citizen and:
a. The child was born on or after November 15, 1968;
b. A parent-child relationship was established on or after November 14, 1986;
c. Blood relationship is established by clear and convincing evidence;
d. The father was a U.S. citizen at the time of the child’s birth; the father, unless deceased, agrees in writing to support the child until he or she reaches the age of 18;
e. Before the child reaches 18, the child is legitimized under the law of the child’s residence or domicile, the father acknowledges paternity of the child in writing under oath, or the child’s paternity is established by adjudication of a competent court.
In 1994, Congress provided for the expeditious naturalization of children and for restoration of U.S. citizenship for those who did not fulfill retention requirements. Those laws became effective March 1, 1995.
Very Complicated! If Obama's mother visited Kenya during her pregnancy then he may only be able to be a Naturalized citizen and ineligible for the office.
Not necessarily. The law says that she must've resided in the US for five years after her sixteenth birthday. "Barry" Hussein was born when she was eighteen, so she doesn't meet the five year rule.
But it's the perception that would matter to American voters.
There have been court cases at local and state levels about qualifications to run. Almost all of these concerned candidates who were required to live in their districts, and set up fake residences to run for office.
Congressman Billybob
Thanks John. Thats what I figured but knew you would know for sure.
Congressman Billybob
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