I have no comment on the nbc question.
I do have a problem with your understanding oc the plural in citizens and parents. Because the object is plural, each member of the set can be singular even with the s.
Example: “The children of heads of state shall be accorded diplomatic immunity” does not imply that any nation has more than one head.
There are no legitimate conservative lawyers who will touch any of this with a ten foot pole for very good reason, including the fact that these self "educated" birthers can't comprehend plural sets. Although the eyes of dogs come in sets of two, there are one-eyed dogs. However, there are no eyes which have two dogs.