i understand the emotional side of it.
i’m looking for technical/legal references that back the explanation(s) given and make it a black-and-white case with no grey areas.
my understanding of what was stated was that it could be conceded that (a) he is a u.s. citizen, (b) that he was born in hawaii, and (c) the document he presents as a birth certificate is valid in some fashion — yet it is clear (to some) that he is still ineligible (because a, b, and c are not enough to fit the “legal” definition of “natural born”). that is much more compelling and defensible position than “he was born in kenya”.
The legal side of it has been posted before on FR. I do not have the post at the moment but I know it has been posted several times under articles referring to Leo Donofrio.
The legal side are references to legal rulings and written opinions by judges as to what is the definition of ‘natural born citizen’. That’s what you are after.
Try looking here at FR under ‘Donofrio’ and also searching the internet. Here is a pretty definitive reference:
“When asked to define natural born citizen, John Bingham, the author of the 14th ammendment which extended the bill of rights to former slaves, stated, “Any human born to parents who are US citizens and are under no other jurisdiction or authority.” The Naturalization Act of 1790, also passed by this congress, declared “And the children of citizens of the US shall be considered as natural born, provided that the right of citizenship shall not descend to persons whose fathers have never been a resident of the US.” Neither of these definitions, one from US law, mentions birthplace, only the parents’ citizenship. “
The Naturalization Act of 1790 passed by Congress should have large legal weight and has never been superceded to my knowledge as it was reaffirmed at the time of drafting the 14th Amendment. Note also the author of the 14th Amendment made the definition very explicit.
That said, there is a lot of disinformation on the web especially as it relates to this issue and the issue of children born in the US of illegal aliens.
There is a chance that the above definition by John Bingham will be be reaffirmed by USSC in upcoming cases.
