Replies

Not simply because the mother was young, but because the father was an alien and the child was born abroad. I suppose that the Congress that passed this law thought a very young American mother who went abroad with an alien father to have a child was not suffieciently connected to the US to have her child be an American by birth. However, that same law made provision for such a child to be naturalized conveniently. Apparently, Obama's mother didn't take advantage of that opportunity (not that it would have made BO constitutionally eligible to be president).

So, let's say that some of your ancestors sailed over on the Mayflower, some nearly died in Jamestown, some founded New Amsterdam, and a few of them were here all along. You've never resided outside this country. (Vacations don't change your residence.) You marry someone who's not a citizen. You take a day-trip into Canada when you're 7 months pregnant, go into labor, and your baby is delivered in Canada. The status of your baby should be different, depending on whether you're 18 years old, or 40 years old?

I suppose that the Congress that passed this law thought a very young American mother who went abroad with an alien father to have a child was not suffieciently connected to the US to have her child be an American by birth.

You've made an error. This law doesn't have anything to do with a mother versus a father. It's about the citizenship of a child who has only one parent that is an American citizen at the time of his birth outside the United States.

The status of your baby should be different, depending on whether you're 18 years old, or 40 years old?

Yes, according to the law in effect at the time, at least. I suppose the congresscritters weren't thinking of that very unusual situation you brought up at the time they wrote and passed that legislation. But as I said, they provided for a relatively convenient naturalization procedure for such a baby. So for all purposes other than eligibility for President or VP, that baby, if naturalized as an infant, would enjoy all the benefits of American citizenship the rest of his life.