[quote=paramount][quote=Colombo]What a Bunch of Wingnut Hoo-hah.
Is there any serious doubt that Obama is a natural born citizen?
While the constitution provides the requirements for the office of the President, US law provides the definition of who is a “natural born citizen”, or expressed differently, who is a citizen at birth as opposed to a naturalized citizen.
All you wingnuts are fixated on the Hawaiian birth certificate or lack thereof. You miss the point.
Obama could have been born on Mars and he would still be a natural born citizen because his mother was a citizen and she lived in the US for at least five years prior to Obama’s birth. 8 USC Section 1401. At least two of these required 5 years had to have been achieved after the citizen parent was 14.
His mother’s age at the time of his birth is only relevant insofar as the residency requirements. Because 2 of the required 5 years must be after the age of 14, only a citizen parent 16 years or older would be able to meet this mathematical requirement.
Mrs. Obama was a citizen and met the residency requirements to pass on her citizenship to her child at birth. Thus Obama was and is a natural born citizen as defined by US law.
Read the law. 8 USC 1401. Read it.
It is funny to remember that when McCain was running in 2000 that this same topic came up because he was born in the Canal Zone.
Similarly, John Kerry was born in Switzerland.
Both of those gentlemen were and are “Natural Born Citizens” as defined by applicable US law.
End of story.
Back to your National Enquirers.[/quote]
End of the story for you maybe: the law you refer to was not the law at the time of birth.
“US Law very clearly states: ‘. . . If only one parent is a U.S. Citizen at the time of one’s birth, that parent must have resided in the United States for minimum ten years, five of which must be after the age of 16.’ Barack Obama’s father was not a U.S. Citizen is a fact.
Obama’s mother was only 18 when Obama was born. This means even though she had been a U.S. Citizen for 10 years, (or citizen of Hawaii being a territory), his mother fails the test for at-least-5-years- prior-to Barack Obama’s birth, but-after-age-16. “[/quote]
Almost there, but not quite.
At the time Obama was born, the law stated that a person would be considered a “natural born citizen” if either parent was a citizen who had lived at least 10 years in the U.S., including five years after the age of 14—in other words, 19.
Obama’s mother was three months shy of her 19th birthday when Obama was born. But subsequent acts of Congress relaxed the requirement to five years in the U.S., including just two years after the age of 14, meaning Dunham could have been 16 and still qualified even if Obama was born in another country. Congress made the law retroactive to 1952, doubly covering Obama.
So even if Obama had been born in Kenya… he’s still a natural-born U.S. citizen.
