The law at the time said one’s citizen parent must be older than 18 to confer citizenship? That’s odd as 18 is usually considered adult age for most legal purposes. The drinking age is an exception of course.
What was the necessary age at the time Ohama was born to confer citizenship?
What exact statute states this?
How old was Ted Cruz’s mother when he was born?
If you have these answers I’d be most grateful. Thanks.
I’d have to look up the references, but the law at the time said that a person had to be a resident of the US for at least 5 years after the age of 14 in order to confer citizenship to a child born outside the country. The law was changed after a time, but the law that was in effect at the time is the legally-binding law for the years that it was in effect. If you look at http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/86757.pdf it lists the requirements and has a time window within which the US-citizen parent had to be at least 19 years old.
On p 17 it says, “c. Birth to Citizen and Alien: Unlike section 301(d), section 301(g) (formerly
section 301(a)(7) INA) does not require a continuity of stay. However, on the
whole, its requirements for transmitting U.S. citizenship to the foreign-born
child of a U.S. citizen and an alien are much more stringent: for children born UNCLASSIFIED (U)
U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual Volume 7
Consular Affairs
7 FAM 1130 Page 18 of 69
UNCLASSIFIED (U)
prior to November 14, 1986, the U.S. citizen parent must have had ten years of
physical presence, five of which were after reaching age 14, in the United
States or its outlying possessions; for children born on or after November 14,
1986, to transmit citizenship the U.S. citizen parent needs five years of physical
presence, two of which were after age 14, in the United States or one of its
possessions.
“
Xzins, that link gives the State Dept’s understanding in this way:
7 FAM 1131.6-2 Eligibility for Presidency
(TL:CON-68; 04-01-1998)
a. It has never been determined definitively by a court whether a person who
acquired U.S. citizenship by birth abroad to U.S. citizens is a natural-born
citizen within the meaning of Article II of the Constitution and, therefore,
eligible for the Presidency. UNCLASSIFIED (U)
U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual Volume 7
Consular Affairs
7 FAM 1130 Page 8 of 69
UNCLASSIFIED (U)
b. Section 1, Article II, of the Constitution states, in relevant part that “No Person
except a natural born Citizen...shall be eligible for the Office of President.”
c. The Constitution does not define “natural born”. The “Act to establish an
Uniform Rule of Naturalization”, enacted March 26, 1790, (1 Stat. 103,104)
provided that, “...the children of citizens of the United States, that may be born
... out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born
citizens: Provided that the right of citizenship shall not descend to persons
whose fathers have never been resident in the United States.”
d. This statute is no longer operative, however, and its formula is not included in
modern nationality statutes. In any event, the fact that someone is a natural
born citizen pursuant to a statute does not necessarily imply that he or she is
such a citizen for Constitutional purposes
According to the article at http://dailycaller.com/2013/08/26/yes-ted-cruz-can-be-president/ , Ted Cruz’s mother was in her 30’s when he was born.