Replies

Yes, I have seen that quoted before as the law of the land in 1961. Now it may well conflict with many assumptions about what a "natural born" citizen is, but it appears that according to the law prevailing in 1961 that even if Obama WAS born in Hawaii or any other US state, he was not a US citizen at birth because his father was not a citizen and with only one parent (his mother) as citizen she needed to have resided in the USA for "minimum ten years, five of which must be after the age of 16"..... it may be a very strange way for the law to have been written, to say that an natural born US citizen who is under the age of 21 may not give birth to a natural born US citizen if the father is not a US citizen, but isn't that what the text of this law implies???? Are there any FReeper lawyers who care to give their analysis of the law prevailing in 1961 on the citizenship status of a baby born to a US citizen mother and a foreign citizen father??

"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."

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.

That statute only applies to births outside the U.S. If Obama was born in Hawaii, his parents' citizenship is irrelevant; under another clause of that statute-- and the 14th Amendment-- anyone born in the U.S. is automatically a citizen.

Hey, all, for a moment leaving aside the issue of the birth certificate itself, please consider what Smoothsailing has quoted (see #108 above) — EVEN IF Barack Obama were to produce a perfectly valid birth certificate that didn’t raise any other problems, how is he construed as a “natural born” citizen under the US law that prevailed in 1961 if it is indeed what Smoothsailing and others have quoted??

I don’t know how the legal and constitutional issues are settled on this, but the text of the law quoted in #108 and above seems to be unequivocal that “Stanley Dunham” (Barack’s mother) at the tender age of 18 could not give birth to a “natural born” US citizen with the father as a foreign national????

If that is the correct understanding of the law prevailing at that time, how has this not already become an huge issue?

If that is not what the law said in 1961, has someone explained this issue adequately?

I am not a lawyer, obviously, just a mystified citizen.

Is Barack Obama a natural born US citizen or not???

[fwiw, I think that would be a strange outcome, at variance with most citizens’ expectations and assumptions, but the law is not about what we expect or assume - there should be a FACT of the matter about whether or not Barack Obama was/is a natural born US citizen - it seems that the law of that time did not allow a US citizen mother UNDER THE AGE OF 21 to give birth to a natural born citizen baby if conceived with a foreign national father?? Considering that most all/rights and privileges of adulthood in those days did not start until age 21 this may have been quite intentional with those who drafted and passed this law?]

...but it appears that according to the law prevailing in 1961 that even if Obama WAS born in Hawaii or any other US state, he was not a US citizen at birth...

That is not correct. The subsection of the law to which you refer was (and is) applicable only to persons born outside of the United States, and it has since been amended to change the "physical presence" requirement, and to make it applicable to births from December 24, 1952 forward.

In other words, under the law as it was in 1961, BHO would be a natural born citizen if born in Hawaii. Under current law (which appears applicable to him) he is a natural born citizen regardless where he was born.