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On the Meaning of “Natural Born Citizen” [3/11/15]
The Harvard Law Review ^ | March 11, 2015 | Commentary by Neal Katyal & Paul Clement

Posted on 12/12/2015 3:56:13 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

We have both had the privilege of heading the Office of the Solicitor General during different administrations. We may have different ideas about the ideal candidate in the next presidential election, but we agree on one important principle: voters should be able to choose from all constitutionally eligible candidates, free from spurious arguments that a U.S. citizen at birth is somehow not constitutionally eligible to serve as President simply because he was delivered at a hospital abroad.

The Constitution directly addresses the minimum qualifications necessary to serve as President. In addition to requiring thirty-five years of age and fourteen years of residency, the Constitution limits the presidency to “a natural born Citizen.”1×

All the sources routinely used to interpret the Constitution confirm that the phrase “natural born Citizen” has a specific meaning: namely, someone who was a U.S. citizen at birth with no need to go through a naturalization proceeding at some later time. And Congress has made equally clear from the time of the framing of the Constitution to the current day that, subject to certain residency requirements on the parents, someone born to a U.S. citizen parent generally becomes a U.S. citizen without regard to whether the birth takes place in Canada, the Canal Zone, or the continental United States.2× (continued)

(Excerpt) Read more at harvardlawreview.org ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: aliens; cruz; eligible; naturalborn; naturalborncitizen; nealkatyal; obama; obamasolicitor; tedcruz
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

There is nothing to discuss, you’re born a citizen (natural-born, that’s all it means) or you’re not. Anyone saying anything else is kook pulling stuff out of his or her butt.


21 posted on 12/12/2015 4:32:13 PM PST by Impy (They pull a knife, you pull a gun. That's the CHICAGO WAY, and that's how you beat the rats!)
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To: Dilbert San Diego

There was one federal case in which standing was conceded but the judge, a long-time liberal out of the Movement and the LCCRUL, gave the Great Pretender a pass. I don’t believe that there is any guarantee that Senator Cruz will receive equal favoritism and, despite all the bluster, there is no controlling SCOTUS decision directly on point. The matter will not be decided based upon law review articles.


22 posted on 12/12/2015 4:35:05 PM PST by AmericanVictory (Should we be more like them or they more like we used to be?)
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To: The Ghost of FReepers Past

Oh, yes. Respect for the written law, tradition and precedent have recently been the hallmarks of Supreme Court decrees.

I expect if Cruz get the nomination they’ll disqualify him and keep a straight face while doing it. If they can find queer marriage in a penumbra, they’ll find NBC status wherever the Hell they want.


23 posted on 12/12/2015 4:36:27 PM PST by M1911A1 (My red line is Jeb Bush.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
yes I did and they are very far left and not credible.
24 posted on 12/12/2015 4:36:53 PM PST by Mechanicos (Nothing's so small it can't be blown out of proportion.)
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To: 1_Rain_Drop
The demoncrats, unless Cruz can provide a Hawaii BC.

Even a flaky computer generated one will do nicely these days. The precedent has been set.

25 posted on 12/12/2015 4:37:13 PM PST by Know et al (Keep on Freepin'!!!)
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To: M1911A1

Maybe. But we have to keep to the right road whether enemies are trying to sabotage it or not.


26 posted on 12/12/2015 4:38:06 PM PST by The Ghost of FReepers Past (Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light..... Isaiah 5:20)
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To: Twotone

Mother’s age?


27 posted on 12/12/2015 4:43:12 PM PST by mcshot (The "Greatest Generation" would never have allowed the trashing of our Republic.)
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To: Mechanicos

Good point. Very few people will admit that the writers of the Constitution, who argued over each word written, regarded “natural born citizen” as distinct from “citizen” regarding qualification for office of president. They just refuse. According to the Constitution, anyone born on the back side of the moon was a natural born citizen, provided his parents were citizens. The reverse is argued just to muddy up the discussion.


28 posted on 12/12/2015 4:43:43 PM PST by odawg
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

The two solicitors are correct as far as Cruz goes.

They eschew all reference to Obama, and hide his potential NBC problem behind the phrase “subject to certain residency requirements”. Those pesky residency requirements are the legal crux of the theory as to why Obama is not a natural born citizen: that he was born in Kenya to a non-US citizen foreign father, and a US citizen mother who had not been resident in the US a specified number of years (I think 5) after reaching age 14. If born in Kenya or Canada, etc., under those circumstances, Obama would not receive any sort of US citizenship under explicit US law in effect at the time he was born (and changes to this law are explicitly NOT retroactive). I do not ascribe to the Kenyan/foreign birth theory, but Obama promoted and/or acquiesced to the idea for years. Since no verified evidence exists in the public domain to disprove his claim, it remains an open question.

Cruz’s mother met the explicit legal requirements for her son to be a US citizen at birth. It is not a comparable situation to Obama’s.


29 posted on 12/12/2015 4:44:53 PM PST by Chewbarkah
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To: Duchess47
You have to be born on American soil, to parents subject to the jurisdiction of the US government, i.e. American citizens, to be natural born.

There are some who have made such an assertion, but they have zero credibility because they have been been able to find a clause of the Constitution, a law, a court finding, an administrative procedure of the U.S. Government, or any of the writings of the founders that supports this notion. This article lays the legal case out pretty clearly.

This ranks right up there with the belief that the moon landing was faked on a Hollywood sound stage.

30 posted on 12/12/2015 4:46:00 PM PST by centurion316 (,)
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To: ziravan

He’ll make big money telling how he dismantled and destroyed our Republic for Allah.


31 posted on 12/12/2015 4:46:07 PM PST by mcshot (The "Greatest Generation" would never have allowed the trashing of our Republic.)
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To: Duchess47
You have to be born on American soil, to parents subject to the jurisdiction of the US government, i.e. American citizens, to be natural born.

No. You don't.

32 posted on 12/12/2015 4:47:36 PM PST by TangoLimaSierra (To win the country back, we need to be as mean as the libs say we are. Go Ted.)
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To: centurion316

1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside...

How is that not clear? A baby is subject to his parents and they are subject to the jurisdiction of whatever their citizenship is.


33 posted on 12/12/2015 4:53:02 PM PST by Duchess47 ("One day I will leave this world and dream myself to Reality" Crazy Horse)
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To: TangoLimaSierra

Yes. You do.


34 posted on 12/12/2015 4:53:37 PM PST by Duchess47 ("One day I will leave this world and dream myself to Reality" Crazy Horse)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
The whole Hawaii thing was so frustrating because geographic location at birth is not relevant---the citizenship of your parents is all that matters. Obama had a foreign national for a father so is therefore not 'a natural born citizen'. I think the fear (back in the 18th century) was that foreign royalty would send sons over here, splash money around, then groom their newly minted American kids to influence American policy in the favor of foreign powers.

Obama is not much of an American (having been schooled in Indonesia---a muslim school no less), but is clearly not an agent of Kenyan royalty.

Under my strict definition apparently Rubio would not qualify however under the Harvard Law Review definition he would because he did not go through any naturalization process.

35 posted on 12/12/2015 5:03:46 PM PST by Cruising Speed
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To: 1_Rain_Drop
The demoncrats, unless Cruz can provide a Hawaii BC.

Actually they provided a picture of one, not a document.

36 posted on 12/12/2015 5:08:15 PM PST by itsahoot
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To: Cruising Speed

Obama did not qualify, Cruz does not qualify and Rubio does not qualify. None of them are “natural born citizens.”


37 posted on 12/12/2015 5:10:50 PM PST by Duchess47 ("One day I will leave this world and dream myself to Reality" Crazy Horse)
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To: exit82

There have only been 43 Presidents. The two Grover Clevelands were the same person.


38 posted on 12/12/2015 5:12:09 PM PST by Verginius Rufus
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To: odawg
According to the Constitution, anyone born on the back side of the moon was a natural born citizen, provided his parents were citizens.

Exactly.

39 posted on 12/12/2015 5:12:17 PM PST by Cruising Speed
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To: Duchess47
You have to be born on American soil, to parents subject to the jurisdiction of the US government, i.e. American citizens, to be natural born.

So the thousands of military families that had kids overseas had to go thru some sort of naturalization process of their kids? Right.

40 posted on 12/12/2015 5:13:50 PM PST by TangoLimaSierra (To win the country back, we need to be as mean as the libs say we are. Go Ted.)
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