What are the requirements to be a “natural born citizen?”?
Natural-born citizen
Who is a natural-born citizen? Who, in other words, is a citizen at birth, such that that person can be a President someday?
The 14th Amendment defines citizenship this way: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” But even this does not get specific enough. As usual, the Constitution provides the framework for the law, but it is the law that fills in the gaps.
Currently, Title 8 of the U.S. Code fills in those gaps. Section 1401 defines the following as people who are “citizens of the United States at birth:”
* Anyone born inside the United States *
* Any Indian or Eskimo born in the United States, provided being a citizen of the U.S. does not impair the person’s status as a citizen of the tribe
* Any one born outside the United States, both of whose parents are citizens of the U.S., as long as one parent has lived in the U.S.
* Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year and the other parent is a U.S. national
* Any one born in a U.S. possession, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year
* Any one found in the U.S. under the age of five, whose parentage cannot be determined, as long as proof of non-citizenship is not provided by age 21
* Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is an alien and as long as the other parent is a citizen of the U.S. who lived in the U.S. for at least five years (with military and diplomatic service included in this time)
* A final, historical condition: a person born before 5/24/1934 of an alien father and a U.S. citizen mother who has lived in the U.S.
* There is an exception in the law — the person must be “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States. This would exempt the child of a diplomat, for example, from this provision.
Anyone falling into these categories is considered natural-born, and is eligible to run for President or Vice President. These provisions allow the children of military families to be considered natural-born, for example.
Pelosi and Lefts…..I don’t care if Obama was born in Kenya on live on national TV, he is still a natural born citizen according to the definitions listed specifically:
* Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is an alien and as long as the other parent is a citizen of the U.S. who lived in the U.S. for at least five years (with military and diplomatic service included in this time)
His mother lived in the U.S. longer than 5 years.
Senor Magoo, please tell me your source. I know what you say is a myth, so you won’t find that info.
Englishman, Wong doesn’t apply (both parents foreigners) Elg doesn’t apply for the same reason- two Swedish parents
You are using sources that are not applicable. Sorry bud, but Obama is natural born by law, by definition, by the fact he was born in Hawaii.
Beaver….BULLSH** From the very first claim you have that Obama was a British subject. Just ain’t so. Hate to burst your wacky bubble, but Obama has been and always will be a natural born citizen, by law, by definition, and by the fact that he was born in Hawaii.
Obama did hold dual citizenship with Kenya and the U.S., but lost the Kenyan citizenship upon turning 18. Any way you look at it, he’s eligible to be our President. (Barry Goldwater wasn’t born in the U.S. nor Mitt Romney)
Obama is probably not a citizen since his grandma keep running around Africa saying she saw him born in a Kenya Hospital. Thats why that guy on CNN says he won’t give up until Obama forks up his orig birth certificate- who was is Gibbs? He is obsessed with Obama’s Birth certificate – Its weird that Obama got sued over it and the courts threw it out both times – That is how much power this is behind the transformation- greed – union takeover of our country there is.
Good info. But, I don’t think it will change the “birthers” or quiet them down.
That is the current law, as amended in 1978 and again in 1986.
Before that, BOTH parents had to be US citizens if the child was born outside the USA. The law in 1961 was that both parents had to be US citizens if the baby was born outside of the United States.
All we want to see is the birth certificate. Hmmm.. havnt seen one yet???
Both parents American and born on American soil.
Here’s a chart to explain it all including the Constitution and Supreme Court rulings
Natural Born Citizen – Both are U. S. Citizens AND Born in the U.S. mainland
US Constitution Art. II, Sec. 1, Cl. 5
U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark,
169 U.S. 649 (1898)
Perkins v. Elg,
307 U.S. 325 (1939)
Citizen – Born to at least 1 US Citizen Parent (under federal statute) OR Born in the U.S. mainland Or Naturalized
US Constitution 14th Amendment, Sec. 1
U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark,
169 U.S. 649 (1898)
Perkins v. Elg,
307 U.S. 325 (1939)
Native Born Citizen – Born in the U.S. mainland
You asked , will you believe ?
I thought not !
I’m as surprised as everyone else that Ms. Taitz was able to get Judge Carter to rule to move this case forward. I too wish for this Constitutional question be resolved once and for all.
Also, like many of you I have followed this drama since it first started to unfold nearly a year ago. I am a Dem. I am not racist. I want the truth. That’s it. Name calling or fingering the Repub’s with pushing for the truth about this very serious issue only shows your lack of understanding about the laws that govern our society. I’d ask you to stop but know better. Name calling seems to be what many of you do best.
First, because Barack Obama Sr. was a subject of the British Crown at the time Barack Jr. was born, Barack Sr.’s children, all of them, became subjects of the British Crown. Barack Jr. has stated this very clearly on his former “Fight the Smears” website which has since been srubbed. If you wish to read what his campaign wrote visit just about any blog covering this story and you can pull it up and read it with your own eyes.
What this means is that Barack Sr’s loyalty lied with the Brits. Ann Stanley Dunham, Barack Jr’s mothers, loyalties lie with the USA. When Barack was born to these two individuals he became a citizen of the US by virtue of his mother’s citizenship AND a subject aka citizen of the British Colony aka Kenya.
This status of citizenship is known as “Dual” citizenship. Note: some argue that if Barack Jr was born in Kenya then his mother was to young to pass on US citizenship, hence, why folks want to see his original vaulted long-form birth certificate.
To complicate matters further, Barack Obama Jr was adopted by an Indonesian citizen named Lolo Soetoro. If he was adopted under the age of 5 he would have automatically become a citizen of Indonesia regardless of a legal adoption. Note – the US gave deference to sovereign territory laws regarding dual citizenship, ie., American and Indonesia or British and Indonesian, etc. Indonesia, at that time, did not recognize dual and only recognized Indonesian citizenship. Therefore, Barack Jr through adoption became an Indonesian citizen. No, he did not ask for this but as a minor child he was under his parents guardianship.
If Barack Obama Jr. went to Indonesia at the age of 6 he would have had to have been formally adopted by Lolo Soetoro in Indonesian court. The citizenship status, as noted above, would still apply.
Now, we already know that Barack, by birth, was a dual national, British and American, which means he can only be a “native” citizen, that is, if he was born in Hawai’i as he has stated AND if when he returned from Indonesia he applied for and received his status as a naturalized citizen. If he did not apply for naturalization then he is an illegal alien. Few question whether he didn’t apply for naturalization but there is no record of it to date so it cannot be ruled out.
Our Founding Fathers made it clear in Article II of the US Constitution that the President must be NOT may be a “Natural Born Citizen” for a reason. They wanted this leader to have loyalties ONLY to the USA rather than divided loyalties such as the USA and Britian – remember these good men gave blood and treasure during the Revolutionary War to secure freedom from the British Crown. They did not want the leader of this country to be loyal to any other homeland.
The definition of a “Natural Born” citizen is two “natural born” parents of the USA. It’s nothing more complicated than this. For example, someone below stated their family dwelled in Virginia and had roots that went back to the 1600s. If you were to marry another natural born individual and the two of you had a child in the USA or abroad at a military base or embassy your child would be a NBC.
Barack Obama Jr., by birth, never had the citizenship status of a “natural born” child and is therefore ineligible to serve as the President of the USA according to the laws that govern our nation.
Now if you want to direct your hostility to the appropriate parties who looked the other way then please look no further than the DNC, Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry and Diane Feinstein. These are the culprits who signed off on the eligibility documents required by individual state’s Board of Elections. The Party is the sole determiner in vetting their candidates eligibility. No federal agent is required by law to vet said candidates.
Barack Obama Jr is by definition under our laws a “native citizen” AND NOT a “natural born citizen”.
*smiles*
good luck.. that is the current rage and debate. Thus.. you have different persons who have conflicting info or beliefs.
My personal standard is that the law recognizes what is COMMON STANDARDS…in other words, a person who is a citizen from BIRTH, is a natural born citizen. Almost all will fit the criteria that you list. A person can become a citizen by naturalization.. which is not a “natural born” citizen.
Arguments re “two parents must be a citizen” are false, in my opinion. This is shown by the upset around “anchor” babies.. where the parent is not a citizen at all, but the child is born on US soil. That baby IS A CITIZEN, and if not by naturalization, would likely be defined as natural born. I admit that I don’t consider this fair or right, if the parent is here illegally. My standard is that Orly Taitz has shown in many ways that she is completely clueless concerning the actual requirements.. and all she wants is to create publicity, and get the case before a judge, thus achieving the “intent” to force Obama to release his private records. Of course, this is a joke..because his private record (the birth certificate) has already been released, and people are howling, because they do not WANT to “accept” it as valid. Hawaii, of course, has already stated that this is their standard format, that he was born exactly where he says.
Bottom line is that all prior rulings have been on alternate situations, and no one has been able to force a court review. The legal standard is that private individuals HAVE NO AUTHORITY to dispute someone else’s birth or citizenship. Legal authority remains with agencies such as the State dept or Homeland security.. of course, since they HAVE access to any and all records.. they have no need or reason to make it into a lawsuit.
Last.. I don’t disagree with those who HONESTLY see that a candidate should be validated, as being eligible. The solution for this dispute is simple.. the requirement should be for ANY CANDIDATE to pass a legal background investigation (including criminal check). Making it requirement for all candidates means that it is valid..and not just an excuse to target Obama. However.. I still maintain that such background investigations are the job of legal authorities.. not any Tom, Dick or Harry on the street. Such background checks would be done just as they are now.. the CONTENT of such investigations restricts access to the file.. and protects the legal privacy rights of everyone. Just my opinion.
I agree. The law and precedents give natural born citizenship to anyone born in the US. If you read Perkins v. Elg (U.S. 1939), the court affirms those born in the US are natural born citizens. See the link below for details.
As far as I am concerned Obama was born in Hawaii. I oppose second class citizenship and believe that naturalized citizens should also have the right to run for President. The current policy ts xenophobic.