Dag-nabbit, I want this matter resolved!
Quoting you here because John Valentine mentioned that same trial:
[quote]
Minor v. Happersett states there is no doubt that an individual born under US jurisdiction to citizen parents is a natural born citizen. But, it also says that some authorities go further and extend that status to those born under other circumstances, about which there are doubts. It goes further to state that such doubts can be resolved. Being born out of the jurisdiction of the US leaves open the possibility of birthright citizenship from another nation that determines citizenship in that manner. Being born to a noncitizen parent leaves open the possibility of citizenship by descent from another nation that determines citizenship in that manner. Every individual circumstance is different, with different legal ramifications, for those who were not born to citizen parents within US jurisdiction. It’s clear to me at least that the concern was legal jurisdiction over a President, and only US jurisdiction was acceptable.
[— RegulatorCountry]
‘Both parents must be U.S. Citizens to confer natural born Citizenship status to their child.’ — Godebert
That would certainly fulfil the purpose of ‘natural born status’.
I’m trying to funnel all the smart ones here to finally get this cleared up!
I’ve looked into the matter pretty thoroughly and am willing to concede that a child born to a citizen father and a noncitizen mother can be natural born if there are no foreign legal claims upon the child as a result of the mother’s citizenship. Turn it around to a citizen mother and a noncitizen father, and it starts looking more shaky from an Originalist point of view, but given the current realities of citizenship law, if there are no foreign legal claims upon the child as a result of the father’s citizenship, then the result would be the same, practically speaking. The same is true of being born outside US jurisdiction. If the nation where the child is born does not make a citizenship claim upon the child as a result of being born there, then that poses no legal problem for a potential, future President as far as only being subject to US jurisdiction. That appears to me to be the original intent. Whether or not a modern court would rule on these lines is another matter.