I get that he was born in Canada. His dad was a Cuban refugee and his mom was a US citizen. There have been some jokes about this, but I'm assuming he's is (or was) a dual citizen and meets the requirements to run for the presidency. I mean, I have no love for the guy, but despite my liberalism I rolled my eyes so hard they almost fell out when the liberals were making the same kind of jokes about McCain (born in the Panama canal zone where his dad was stationed) to get back at the Obama birthers.
The Constitution says just says you have to be a natural born citizen. What that means has never been litigated but in immigration law there are two types of citizen--natural born (in general terms this encompasses all people born with US citizenship, whether because they were born on US soil or because they are the child of a qualifying American) and naturalized.
There are differences between these two types of citizenship already codified in law (such as there being certain circumstances where a naturalized citizen may be stripped of their citizenship. A natural born citizen cannot be.) so the distinction is apparent and important.
While someone could argue that only people born within the borders of the United States in order to be a natural citizen, it is the weaker argument and is not very likely to prevail.
I would think there is going to be some wacky conversations about this with Donald trump. I'm mean if Ted Cruz can run than even if Obama had been born in Kenya he would have been eligible to be president as he was born to an American mother.
Yes. The "natural born citizenship" requirement in the constitution was written well before the part about how one is actually considered to be a citizen at birth vs not (14th amendment) which is where some confusion lies. Did the founding fathers mean it as born within US borders? Simply if you qualified to be a US citizen at the time of your birth? He satisfies the latter and we all know what a cluster it is to create laws that try to interpret what was meant by the original wording and intent of the constitution, so...
This is what made the Obama birtherism shit so obviously racist. It would not have mattered to his legitimacy as president if he was born in Kenya because there was never a dispute that his mother was American. At its core, it was never really was about his eligibility, it was about othering him, making him seem foreign and mysterious and untrustworthy.
This is what made the Obama birtherism shit so obviously racist. It would not have mattered to his legitimacy as president if he was born in Kenya because there was never a dispute that his mother was American. At its core, it was never really was about his eligibility, it was about othering him, making him seem foreign and mysterious and untrustworthy.
Exactly. Kenya ain't Canada, even though the result is the same.
I was thinking about this last night and I think an interesting thing to see litigated that I'm sure will come up in the next several decades is whether someone who has citizenship because of the Childhood Citizenship Act of 2000 would be considered natural born.
Basically it says that the non-US citizen child of a US citizen parent automatically becomes a citizen the second they set foot on American soil when they move to the U.S. as a lawful permenant resident in the lawful custody of their US Citizen parent.
Specifically I'm thinking of a fact scenario where a child is born in a country without jus soli citizenship to two US (only) citizen parents, neither of whom meets the residency requirements to pass on their citizenship but moved to the U.S. so that they child Would have citizenship under the CCA and not be stateless. <--that would be kind of fascinating to see played out.
Post by downtoearth on Mar 26, 2015 18:50:07 GMT -5
So, I do think that it's funny that getting a US Citizen onto some of our federal facilities to work is easy if they are born in the US,and downright near impossible if they are not born in the US, but we could have the head of the Feds be someone who would be hard to get onto a secure federal site. Just ironic.
So, I do think that it's funny that getting a US Citizen onto some of our federal facilities to work is easy if they are born in the US,and downright near impossible if they are not born in the US, but we could have the head of the Feds be someone who would be hard to get onto a secure federal site. Just ironic.
I'm not surprised frlcb once had someone tell her that she needed to have her (US Citizen) son's green card with them before she could apply to renew his US passport. Because green card holders have expired US passports and all.
So, I do think that it's funny that getting a US Citizen onto some of our federal facilities to work is easy if they are born in the US,and downright near impossible if they are not born in the US, but we could have the head of the Feds be someone who would be hard to get onto a secure federal site. Just ironic.
I'm not surprised frlcb once had someone tell her that she needed to have her (US Citizen) son's green card with them before she could apply to renew his US passport. Because green card holders have expired US passports and all.
Yep, true story! And not just a person, but the person who deals with passport renewals and applications ALL DAY LONG. Ah, what a fun day. (and this was because he was born in the UK, and has a British birth certificate and a consular notification of birth abroad, from the US embassy in London, and yet she thought he had a green card)
The Constitution says just says you have to be a natural born citizen. What that means has never been litigated but in immigration law there are two types of citizen--natural born (in general terms this encompasses all people born with US citizenship, whether because they were born on US soil or because they are the child of a qualifying American) and naturalized.
There are differences between these two types of citizenship already codified in law (such as there being certain circumstances where a naturalized citizen may be stripped of their citizenship. A natural born citizen cannot be.) so the distinction is apparent and important.
While someone could argue that only people born within the borders of the United States in order to be a natural citizen, it is the weaker argument and is not very likely to prevail.
That is interesting. I have always read "natural born" as being born on U.S. soil (hence why McCain was ok - embassies, territories, military bases are all considered U.S. soil), going back to the first election when they did not want a Brit elected. Apparently, I have been teaching this wrong for 15 years. Whoops.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”