14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America
14th Amendment
Section I
All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any persons of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
7. Congress intent in including the qualifying phrase "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof" was apparently to exclude from the reach of the language children born of diplomatic representatives of foreign state and children born of alien enemies in hostile occupation, both recognized exceptions to the common-law rule of acquired citizenship by birth,
8. as well as children of members of Indian tribes subject to tribal laws.
9. The lower courts have generally held that the citizenship of the parents determines the citizenship of children born on vessels in United States territorial waters or on the high seas.
12. In a subsequent decision, however, the court held that persons who had been statutorily naturalized by being born abroad of at least one American parent could not claim the protection of the first sentence of (1) and that congress could therefore impose a reasonable and non-arbitrary condition subsequent upon their continued retention of United States citizenship.
13. Between these two decisions there is a tension which should call forth further litigation efforts to explore the meaning of the citizenship sentence of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Citizenship of the United States within the meaning of this sentence must be natural and not artificial persons; a corporate body is not a natural citizen of the United States. 14
Naturalization/Naturalisationis the acquisition of citizenship or nationality by somebody who was not a citizen or national of that country when he or she was born. In general, basic requirements for naturalization are that the applicant hold a legal status as a full-time resident for a minimum period of time and that the applicant promise to obey and uphold that country's laws, to which an oath or pledge of allegiance is sometimes added. Some countries also require that a naturalized national must renounce any other citizenship that they currently hold, forbidding dual citizenship, but whether this renunciation actually causes loss of the person's original citizenship will again depend on the laws of the countries involved.
With all of the above in consideration, where does Barak Hussein Obama, aka Barry Soetero, fit?
He is a natural citizen if he was born on a "United States vessel", "territory", or state.
If he was in fact, born in Indonesia, as his grandmother has publicly stated, then he is naturalized.
the quote is from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_nationality_law which is experiencing technical difficulties!!!
naturalized U.S. citizens are not eligible to become President of the United
Without quoting the entire Constitution, can you clear this up?
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.
[edit on 31-7-2009 by Hazelnut]
