About Birth Certificates, Natural born Citizens and the Presidency?

Deleted the copy author intended to keep, posted original content back. Many apologies for the inconvenience. Lithos, DU Moderator


Its my understanding that a child born of an American citizen, even if abroad at the time of birth, is automatically a citizen...that is to say, a natural born citizen. So if my wife gives birth while we are touring Spain this summer, our child will be a citizen. Is that correct? I want to make sure in case the little tyke wants to run for president some day. And isn't it the case that people are coming to America pregnant to have their child in America so that child will automatically be a "Natural born American", a so called anchor baby? Just wondering what you know about all this?

Had McLame won, it could have gotten interesting in the courts, since he was born on a Panamanian military base. Mose agree it would have held up, since it was a US base.

If however, one parent is (let's say) Italian, and the other American, what about this scenario: Suppose an American man goes to Italy to college for a year, and has a relationship and kid with an Italian woman. Nine months later, the baby is born in Italy. A month after birth, the man decides to finish college in the states, and brings the baby and his mom (who now is his wife, they got married shortly before the baby was born) to America for good. Can that baby, once he's 35, run for president? My guess would be no, even if he came to the US at the age of one month.

Assuming the Supreme Court didn't interpret the Constitution to mean a President must be born on US soil, but merely that the President be a naturally born citizen who had earned citizenship either from being born in the US or from jus sanguinis (inheriting it from a parent), there's no reason that child wouldn't be eligible to become president. The child is ineligible only if the Court rules that to be eligible for President, one must be born in the United States, and that inheriting citizenship from a parent is not enough.

It would be necessary to inherit that citizenship from only one parent--not both. If either of your parents is a US citizen, so are you--doesn't matter if the other is from Mars.

US protectorate at the time?

I'd check on the laws on that. I recall from the debate on Obama that if he had been born in Kenya, he'd only be a citizen if his mother lived in the US the requisite number of years at a certain age, etc. and it seemed rather complicated.

they said they had to do something, I think at the embassy, to get them recognized as "Natural born" US citizens, so that either one of them could be elected President. Otherwise, they'd be US citizens, but wouldn't be electable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_born

Thanks for the input...interesting stories.