TITLE 8 > CHAPTER 12 > SUBCHAPTER III > Part I > § 1401Prev | Next § 1401. Nationals and citizens of 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:
- source (TITLE 8 > CHAPTER 12 > SUBCHAPTER III > Part I > § 1401Prev | Next § 1401. Nationals and citizens of United States at birt)
U.S. Constitution
Article 2, clause 5: No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
- source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article...s_Constitution)
Obama's mother was a US citizen when he was born and as far as I know, she met the requirements stipulated above. That said, the above definition of citizenship is from the 2008 code and Obama's citizenship would be established by the law established when he was born but I don't think the above clause differs from that in place when he was born. So, by that ruling, he's a US citizen. It doesn't matter what his mother chose to do with her citizenship becaues Barack Obama's citizenship was established by the law in place at his time of birth and his parents' citizenship at his time of birth, regardless of what his parents' did afterward. I think the reason Obama never took this issue on during the election was because it would have made the question national and he probably didn't want to field any questions about it and figured that people would be labeled as nutcases for saying that a strong candidate for office isn't a US citizen. Also, on a quick search I didn't find a conclusive ruling on what EXACTLY the Constitution meant when that little clause was thrown in as it pertains to the President but the cases I could find through Cornell's online law library concluded what I mentioned above about citizenship being established by our citizenship laws at the person's time of birth. All this said, I think President Obama acted cowardly when he didn't take this issue straight on during the campaign and just let his critics be labeled as nutcases.
My purpose in stating all of the above is because I think that ALL arguments need to be soundly grounded in the facts and that one should never trust someone else's interpretation of our laws or rulings. Would any of us believe it when the loud guy at the PTA stated that a teacher couldn't be fired even if convicted of pedophelia? I think all of us would check into the local contracts because we are interested in protecting our children. Why don't we all address national issues the same way?
Calrockx, there are plenty of 'conspiracy' theories floating around. There are plenty of people in Portland that say the US blew up our towers as an excuse to go to war. Instead of insulting people by saying they make you embarassed to be an American you, they, and I would be better served by taking the time to ask them to explain their position and you explain yours. Also, I recommend you think about Oliver Cromwell's quote "Gentlemen, I beseech you, from the bowels of the earth, consider the possibility that you may be wrong."
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Originally Posted by fustercluck
