Posted on 06/30/2009 9:32:47 AM PDT by wbones8765
What might the phrase “natural-born citizen” of the United States imply under the U.S. Constitution? The phrase has always been obscure due to the lack of any single authoritative source to confer in order to understand the condition of citizenship the phrase recognizes. Learning what the phrase might have meant following the Declaration of Independence, and the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment, requires detective work. As with all detective work, eliminating the usual suspects from the beginning goes a long way in quickly solving a case.
What Natural-Born Citizen Could Not Mean
Could a natural-born citizen simply mean citizenship due to place of birth?
Unlikely in the strict sense because we know one can be native born and yet not a native born citizen of this country prior to the year 1866. There were even disputes whether anyone born within the District of Columbia or in the territories were born citizens of the United States (they were generally referred to as “inhabitants” instead.) National Government could make no “territorial allegiance” demands within the several States because as Madison explained it, the “powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the State.”
Jurisdiction over citizenship via birth within the several States was part of the “ordinary course of affairs” of the States that only local laws could affect. Early acts of Naturalization recognized the individual State Legislatures as the only authority who could make anyone a citizen of a State. Framer James Wilson said, “a citizen of the United States is he, who is a citizen of at least some one state in the Union.”
(Excerpt) Read more at federalistblog.us ...
They seem to be totally extra-Constitutional and unaccountable now.
“Birth Abroad to One Citizen and One Alien Parent in Wedlock”
How could Stanley Ann and Barack Sr have been “IN WEDLOCK”??
Barack Sr was already married and the father of 2 when he first came to the USA.
IF he and Stanley Ann “got married” it would be bigamy, and therefore not recognised.
Has anyone come forward and shown proof they were ever married? Is there record of their “divorce”?
If bigamy was involved, I am under the impression that an ‘anullment’ would be the legal document.
Me: Army Hospital Korea, 1962 - Both parents: American Citizens, I am a Natural Born Citizen, right?????/Just Asking - seoul62......
Refresh my memory here?
How many Czars do we have this week?”
Another Czar got appointed this week- Sec of Interior appointed one of his deputies——the new WATER CZAR of CALIFORNIA!!!
Doesn’t the state of Kalifornia have any states rights any more???
Water is a serious issue here in the west. The old saying here is: “Whiskey is for drinking! Water is for fighting over”.
This may seem a strange question, but I believe it is the real "test" to nationality.
If I'm an American, why would I be supporting Mexico in soccer, or If I were a Brit, why would I be supporting Pakistan in Cricket?
Of course nationality and "Citizenship" have morphed into one, which has helped dilute the issue.
Which makes us all citizens of the world :-)
Yes, same exemption as John McCain.
bfl
The law you cited only deals with someone born abroad. The 14th Amendment governs when someone is born in the US- other than a few exceptions (such as children of diplomats), anyone born within the US is a natural born citizen.
The law you cited was meant to deal with a situation where only one parent was a citizen, but they did not spend any significant time living in the US.
Yes. Anyone born to two American citizens is a NBC. Location of birth is irrelevant in that situation.
Plus, I have a real Birth Certificate to prove it!!!!!!!/Just Asking - seoul62......
Thank you, Domo Arigato./Just Asking - seoul62.......
Plus I think you got brownie points for being born in a US Army hospital to real American parents. I am assuming that one parent was in the Army?
According to this article, Obama would NOT be a natural born citizen since it’s well documented that his father was a Kenyan (British colony).....
Excerpt from this article:
“A person who had been born under a double allegiance cannot be said to be a natural-born citizen of the United States because such status is not recognized (only in fiction of law). A child born to an American mother and alien father could be said to be a citizen of the United States by some affirmative act of law but never entitled to be a natural-born citizen because through laws of nature the child inherits the condition of their father.”
That actually doesn't make a difference. Embassies and military bases aren't US territory- that's mostly an urban myth. Rather, they're places where the host country has agreed, by treaty, to let the US exercise its jurisdiction. Imagine a situation where a pregnant German woman went into labor on a US base in that country and was rushed to the base hospital because the delivery was imminent. Unless the father was a US citizen, that child would not be a US citizen under any circumstance.
BELOW are FIVE such attempts to re-define NBC since 2001 (SIX attempts, if you include Leahy's Resolution for McCain in Mar/Apr 2008):
109th CONGRESS
1st Session H. J. RES. 15 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to make eligible for the Office of President a person who is not a natural born citizen of the United States but has been a United States citizen for at least 20 years.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 1, 2005 Mr. ROHRABACHER introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
JOINT RESOLUTION Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to make eligible for the Office of President a person who is not a natural born citizen of the United States but has been a United States citizen for at least 20 years.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification:
`Article --
`A person who is a citizen of the United States, who has been a citizen of the United States for at least 20 years, and who is otherwise eligible to hold the Office of the President, is not ineligible to hold that Office by reason of not being a native born citizen of the United States.'.
108th CONGRESS
2d Session S. 2128 To define the term `natural born Citizen' as used in the Constitution of the United States to establish eligibility for the Office of President.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 25, 2004 Mr. NICKLES (for himself, Ms. LANDRIEU, and Mr. INHOFE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL To define the term `natural born Citizen' as used in the Constitution of the United States to establish eligibility for the Office of President.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Natural Born Citizen Act'.
SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF `NATURAL BORN CITIZEN' .
(a) IN GENERAL- Congress finds and declares that the term `natural born Citizen' in Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution of the United States means--
(1) any person born in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof; and
(2) any person born outside the United States--
(A) who derives citizenship at birth from a United States citizen parent or parents pursuant to an Act of Congress; or
(B) who is adopted by 18 years of age by a United States citizen parent or parents who are otherwise eligible to transmit citizenship to a biological child pursuant to an Act of Congress.
(b) UNITED STATES- In this section, the term `United States', when used in a geographic sense, means the several States of the United States and the District of Columbia.
108th CONGRESS
2d Session H. J. RES. 104 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to make eligible for the Office of President a person who is not a natural born citizen of the United States but has been a United States citizen for at least 20 years.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 15, 2004 Mr. ROHRABACHER introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
JOINT RESOLUTION Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to make eligible for the Office of President a person who is not a natural born citizen of the United States but has been a United States citizen for at least 20 years.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification:
`Article --
`A person who is a citizen of the United States, who has been a citizen of the United States for at least 20 years, and who is otherwise eligible to hold the Office of the President, is not ineligible to hold that Office by reason of not being a native born citizen of the United States.'.
107th CONGRESS
1st Session H. J. RES. 47 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to make eligible for the Office of President a person who has been a United States citizen for twenty years.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 2, 2001 Mr. FRANK (for himself and Mr. HOEKSTRA) introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
JOINT RESOLUTION Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to make eligible for the Office of President a person who has been a United States citizen for twenty years.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification:
`Article--
`A person who is a citizen of the United States, who has been for twenty years a citizen of the United States, and who is otherwise eligible to the Office of President, is not ineligible to that Office by reason of not being a natural born citizen of the United States.'.
In the SIXTH bill since 2001, the one for McCain (not included above), which was co-sponsored by Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), and Sen. Thomas Coburn (R-OK) -- they refer to an Immigration Act, most likely the rescinded 1790 Immigration Act when they say, "To clarify the law and ensure that children born to United States citizens while serving overseas in the military are eligible to become President."
110th CONGRESS
2d Session S. 2678 To clarify the law and ensure that children born to United States citizens while serving overseas in the military are eligible to become President.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 28, 2008 Mrs. MCCASKILL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL To clarify the law and ensure that children born to United States citizens while serving overseas in the military are eligible to become President.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Children of Military Families Natural Born Citizen Act'.
SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF `NATURAL BORN CITIZEN' .
Congress finds and declares that the term `natural born Citizen' in article II, section 1, clause 5 of the Constitution of the United States shall include: `Any person born to any citizen of the United States while serving in the active or reserve components of the United States Armed Forces'.
That's simply an unsourced opinion. Your status as an American citizen is in no way based on the laws of other countries. If you agree with this argument, then you are letting other countries override our laws. We have no control whether another country considers an American to also be a citizen of that country.
A child born to an American mother and alien father could be said to be a citizen of the United States by some affirmative act of law but never entitled to be a natural-born citizen because through laws of nature the child inherits the condition of their father.”
AFAIK, US law overrides some nebulous concept of "laws of nature" and there is nothing in US law that disqualifies a dual citizen from the Presidency.
According to our Constitution, Obama must be a natural born citizen to serve as President. Born in Kenya would not meet this criteria, nor would changing to Indonesian citizenship as a child to school in Indonesia. WHEN will we see his original birth certificate? WHERE was he born in Hawaii if he weren’t born in Kenya?
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