It had me worried for a moment, but I tracked this down. Article II, Section 1(5) provides that only a "natural born citizen" is eligible to be president. The Constitution does not define the term "natural born citizen." Amendment XIV, of course, provides that persons born in the United States are citizens of the United States, we can use common sense to inform us that such persons fall within the definition of "natural born citizen." McCain was not born in the United States so he is not a born 14th Amendment citizen. He is, however, a born statutory citizen:
The following shall be nationals and citizens of the United States at birth: ... (e) a person born in an outlying possession of the United States of parents one of whom is a citizen of the United States who has been physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for a continuous period of one year at any time prior to the birth of such person8 USC 1401.
Citizenship was automatic at birth in his case; to me that counts as "natural born."
2 comments:
I think a reasonable argument can be made that US soil overseas IS "the United States", with or without the code section.
Well, I'd like to hear that argument... But my common sense position in advance of hearing it is that there's a difference between a government exercising control over a territory and the integration of territory into a State. The process of integration that we have is statehood; since U.S. territories have not undergone that integration process, they are not integrated. (D.C. gets a pass on needing statehood because it was created by the Constitution.)
Post a Comment