Don't Let Constitutionally Ineligible Traitor McCain in the Whitehouse!
You can just listen to McWarpig talk and tell he's not a real American. CFR TRAITOR!
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The Constitutional Topics pages at the USConstitution.net site are presented to delve deeper into topics than can be provided on the Glossary Page or in the FAQ pages. This Topic Page concerns Citizenship. Citizenship is mentioned in Article 1, Section 2, Article 1, Section 3, Article 1, Section 8, Article 2, Section 1, and in the 14th Amendment and several subsequent amendments.
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If you're going to be involved in government in the United States, citizenship is a must. To be a Senator or Representative, you must be a citizen of the United States. To be President, not only must you be a citizen, but you must also be natural-born. Aside from participation in government, citizenship is an honor bestowed upon people by the citizenry of the United States when a non-citizen passes the required tests and submits to an oath.
Natural-born citizen
Who is a natural-born citizen? Who, in other words, is a citizen at birth, such that that person can be a President someday?
The 14th Amendment defines citizenship this way: "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." But even this does not get specific enough. As usual, the Constitution provides the framework for the law, but it is the law that fills in the gaps.
Currently, Title 8 of the U.S. Code fills in those gaps. Section 1401 defines the following as people who are "citizens of the United States at birth:"
Anyone born inside the United States
Any Indian or Eskimo born in the United States, provided being a citizen of the U.S. does not impair the person's status as a citizen of the tribe
Any one born outside the United States, both of whose parents are citizens of the U.S., as long as one parent has lived in the U.S.
Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year and the other parent is a U.S. national
Any one born in a U.S. possession, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year
Any one found in the U.S. under the age of five, whose parentage cannot be determined, as long as proof of non-citizenship is not provided by age 21
Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is an alien and as long as the other parent is a citizen of the U.S. who lived in the U.S. for at least five years (with military and diplomatic service included in this time)
A final, historical condition: a person born before 5/24/1934 of an alien father and a U.S. citizen mother who has lived in the U.S.
Anyone falling into these categories is considered natural-born, and is eligible to run for President or Vice President. These provisions allow the children of military families to be considered natural-born, for example.
Separate sections handle territories that the United States has acquired over time, such as Puerto Rico (8 USC 1402), Alaska (8 USC 1404), Hawaii (8 USC 1405), the U.S. Virgin Islands (8 USC 1406), and Guam (8 USC 1407). Each of these sections confer citizenship on persons living in these territories as of a certain date, and usually confer natural-born status on persons born in those territories after that date. For example, for Puerto Rico, all persons born in Puerto Rico between April 11, 1899, and January 12, 1941, are automatically conferred citizenship as of the date the law was signed by the President (June 27, 1952). Additionally, all persons born in Puerto Rico on or after January 13, 1941, are natural-born citizens of the United States. Note that because of when the law was passed, for some, the natural-born status was retroactive.
The law contains one other section of historical note, concerning the Panama Canal Zone and the nation of Panama. In 8 USC 1403, the law states that anyone born in the Canal Zone or in Panama itself, on or after February 26, 1904, to a mother and/or father who is a United States citizen, was "declared" to be a United States citizen. Note that the terms "natural-born" or "citizen at birth" are missing from this section.
In 2008, when Arizona Senator John McCain ran for president on the Republican ticket, some theorized that because McCain was born in the Canal Zone, he was not actually qualified to be president. However, it should be noted that section 1403 was written to apply to a small group of people to whom section 1401 did not apply. McCain is a natural-born citizen under 8 USC 1401(c): "a person born outside of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents both of whom are citizens of the United States and one of whom has had a residence in the United States or one of its outlying possessions, prior to the birth of such person."
Comment by Ed— 2008/02/28 @ 10:18 PM — (Reply)
Unless you don't consider a person born of military parents on a military base overseas a natural born citizen?
McCain's Canal Birth
Having failed to gin up a sex scandal, the New York Times tries a new tack to stop John McCain:
Mr. McCain's likely nomination as the Republican candidate for president and the happenstance of his birth in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936 are reviving a musty debate that has surfaced periodically since the founders first set quill to parchment and declared that only a "natural-born citizen" can hold the nation's highest office.
The Times labors mightily to present this as an actual controversy. It notes that in 1790 Congress passed a law "that did define children of citizens 'born beyond the sea, or out of the limits of the United States to be natural born,' " and, further, that "laws specific to the Canal Zone," then a U.S. territory, leave no doubt that McCain was born a citizen. So why does the Times think this is an issue? Because "whether he qualifies as natural-born has been a topic of Internet buzz for months." And if it's on the Internet, there has to be something to it.
The Chicago Tribune and the Washington Post have both dealt with this question, the latter way back in 1998, and both concluded with little trouble that McCain is indeed natural born. So he should have no problem--unless, perhaps, his mother had a caesarian section.
Comment by Elmers Brother— 2008/02/28 @ 10:18 PM — (Reply)
Ed
Comment by Ed— 2008/02/28 @ 10:24 PM — (Reply)
"The Constitution states, "No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible for the Office of President." The 14th Amendment did not alter this provision.
"The status of the U. S. Navy Hospital in the Panama Canal Zone is described by the U. S. Department of State in its Foreign Affairs Manual (7FAM1116.1-4(c)): "Despite widespread popular belief, U. S. military installations abroad and U. S. diplomatic or consular facilities are not part of the United States within the meaning of the 14th Amendment. A child born on the premises of such a facility is not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and does not acquire U. S. citizenship by reason of birth
Comment by Dugg— 2008/02/28 @ 11:04 PM — (Reply)
Comment by Dugg— 2008/02/28 @ 11:06 PM — (Reply)
I suggest this article and the case law that described in the article
ENJOY!
Comment by Elmers Brother— 2008/02/29 @ 12:11 AM — (Reply)
So if he is born on a US base what citizenship does he possess?
Comment by Elmers Brother— 2008/02/29 @ 12:21 AM — (Reply)
Comment by Barry G.— 2008/02/29 @ 07:46 AM — (Reply)
As far as Insane McNutjob - I'll swap experts with you and stick to my position.
Comment by Dugg— 2008/02/29 @ 08:33 AM — (Reply)
the other stuff...I'm sure could be shot down or at least mitigated like most of the BS you post...why do I have to do your research for you...you're already convinced....
and you haven't convinced the 4 or 5 readers who visit you of anything other than your paranoia
so what is the point?
Comment by Elmers Brother— 2008/02/29 @ 05:12 PM — (Reply)
Comment by Ed— 2008/02/29 @ 10:44 AM — (Reply)
Comment by Ed— 2008/02/29 @ 10:45 AM — (Reply)
Comment by Dugg— 2008/02/29 @ 11:32 AM — (Reply)
Comment by Dugg— 2008/02/29 @ 11:34 AM — (Reply)
Comment by Ed— 2008/02/29 @ 05:29 PM — (Reply)
Comment by Elmers Brother— 2008/02/29 @ 05:32 PM — (Reply)
Ed
Comment by Ed— 2008/02/29 @ 05:36 PM — (Reply)
Comment by Elmers Brother— 2008/02/29 @ 05:56 PM — (Reply)
If I go to your blog and start constantly telling you what to write, talk about, link from, or put on your side bar - you may not like it either.
Comment by Dugg— 2008/02/29 @ 06:12 PM — (Reply)
Comment by Ed— 2008/02/29 @ 06:14 PM — (Reply)
you might be civil...perhaps it's the reasonable part? hmmm
Comment by Elmers Brother— 2008/02/29 @ 06:39 PM — (Reply)
Comment by Dugg— 2008/02/29 @ 06:48 PM — (Reply)
Comment by Elmers Brother— 2008/02/29 @ 07:06 PM — (Reply)
Comment by Ed— 2008/02/29 @ 07:02 PM — (Reply)