If Barack Hussein Obama was born to Ann Dunham in Hawaii in 1961, there is no question that he is a natural-born American citizen since Ann Dunham was an American citizen and Hawaii has been an American possession since 1898. If Obama was born outside of the United States or any of its outlying possessions, the following statute (which became law on October 25, 1994) applies to him and indicates that he is a natural-born American citizen from the point of view of U.S. law:
a. As amended by Public Law 103-416 on October 25, 1994, section 301 states as follows with respect to persons born abroad:b. Sec. 301. The following shall be nationals and citizens of the United States at birth:
...
g. a person born outside the geographical limits of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents one of whom is an alien, and the other a citizen of the United States who, prior to the birth of such person, was physically present in the United States or its outlying possessions for a period or periods totaling not less than five years, at least two of which were after attaining the age of fourteen years: Provided, That any periods of honorable service in the Armed Forces of the United States, or periods of employment with the United States Government or with an international organization as that term is defined in section 1 of the International Organizations Immunities Act (59 Stat. 669; 22 U.S.C. 288) by such citizen parent, or any periods during which such citizen parent is physically present abroad as the dependent unmarried son or daughter and a member of the household of a person (A) honorably serving with the Armed Forces of the United States, or (B) employed by the United States Government or an international organization as defined in section 1 of the International Organizations Immunities Act, may be included in order to satisfy the physical-presence requirement of this paragraph. This proviso shall be applicable to persons born on or after December 24, 1952, to the same extent as if it had become effective in its present form on that date;
Note that this condition applies retroactively to Obama, as the following condition shows:
l. RETROACTIVE APPLICATION:(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the immigration and nationality laws of the United States shall be applied (to persons born before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act) as though the amendment made by subsection (a), and subsection (b), had been in effect as of the date of their birth, except that the retroactive application of the amendment and that subsection shall not affect the validity of citizenship of anyone who has btained citizenship under section 1993 of the Revised Statutes (as in effect before the enactment of the Act of May 24, 1934 (48 Stat. 797)).(2) The retroactive application of the amendment made by subsection (a), and subsection (b), shall not confer citizenship on, or affect the validity of any denaturalization, deportation or exclusion action against, any person who is or was excludable from the United States under section 212(a)(3)(E) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182 (a)(3)(E)) (or predecessor provision) or who was excluded from, or who would not have been eligible for admission to, the United States under the Displaced Persons 1948 or under section 14 of the Refugee Relief Act of 1953.
This information comes from pp. 15-17 of the following U.S. State Department document:
7 FAM 1130
ACQUISITION OF U.S. CITIZENSHIP BY
BIRTH ABROAD TO U.S. CITIZEN PARENTwhich is available in PDF format here:
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/86757.pdfIn order to show that Obama is not a natural-born U.S. citizen, somebody is going to have to show that one of the following conditions is true:
(1) Obama is not the son of Ann Dunham;(2) Obama is the son of Ann Dunham, but Ann Dunham was not an American citizen at the time of Obama's birth;
(3) Obama is the son of Ann Dunham and Ann Dunham was an American citizen at the time of Obama's birth, but Ann Dunham did not satisfy the residency requirement of condition (g) necessary for conferring natural-born citizenship on her offspring (that is, five years physical residence in the United States or any of its outlying possessions, at least two years of which were after attaining the age of fourteen).
According to the information I've seen, none of these conditions is true. Hence I conclude that, as things now stand, U.S. law recognizes Barack Obama as a natural-born U.S. citizen, and so he is eligible to run for the Presidency.
Now this is all separate and apart from the issue whether the document posted on Obama's website is genuine or not. I don't know anything about that. I've addressed only the question of Obama's natural-born citizen status.
As I read this, it applies to citizens who have served in the military, or govt. Where do you see that this applies to a 18 student living in Hawaii who gives birth to a boy in Kenya?
“Provided, That any periods of honorable service in the Armed Forces of the United States, or periods of employment with the United States Government or with an international organization as that term is defined in section 1 of the International Organizations Immunities Act (59 Stat. 669; 22 U.S.C. 288) by such citizen parent, or any periods during which such citizen parent is physically present abroad as the dependent unmarried son or daughter and a member of the household of a person (A) honorably serving with the Armed Forces of the United States, or (B) employed by the United States Government or an international organization as defined in section 1 of the International Organizations Immunities Act, may be included in order to satisfy the physical-presence requirement of this paragraph. This proviso shall be applicable to persons born on or after December 24, 1952, to the same extent as if it had become effective in its present form on that date; “
Doesn’t this clearly show that “provided” the citizen is in the military, govt or other recognized international employment.
And if Obama is covered by the law that you posted, it does not define "natural born citizen" as defined in the U.S. Constitution, which determines eligibility to be a United States president. The law you cited only determines U.S. citizenship.