Monday, April 2, 2018

'Natural Born Citizen' Might include American Children Born Abroad

  There is wording in the Constitution suggesting a person born outside the U.S. can be considered a natural born citizen.
  It is found in the part listing the requirements to be president. It says that only a "natural born citizen" can become president. And then -- somewhat inexplicably -- it adds that he or she must also have been a resident within the United States for 14 years.
   Now, anyone born here, unless they moved out and remained away for 21 years, is going to have been a resident for 14 years. So, why is that even mentioned?
   I see but three or four possible explanations.
   One -- They (the founding fathers) might have been concerned about allegiance, and wanted to rule out those affected negatively by living abroad.
   Two -- They just put the 14 year rule in for no real reason other than thinking it would be nice if they lived here 14 years since they were going to be president here.
   Three -- "Natural born citizen" could mean anyone born with citizenship rights, even though born abroad. The founding fathers might have considered that if an American was living abroad at the time a child was born, that child would still be a "natural born citizen."
   And, in thinking about it, I wonder if the third explanation doesn't carry the most weight. The wording doesn't specify that the 14 years be the last 14 years. If you were trying to assure that the person not be someone affected by being abroad, it seems it would be the most recent years that would be in question. And, if you are just making a rule because you think it would be nice to have a president who has lived here, it, again, seems it would be the last 14 years you would be concerned about.
   But, if you are looking at someone born abroad, and suggesting they need to make some kind of connection to the U.S., a connection is a connection, whether it is the last 14 years or 14 years somewhere else along the line.
   A forth explanation might be that, yes, the founding fathers did mean to make it the last 14 years, not just 14 years anywhere along the line, but they just didn't think to word it that way when they wrote the Constitution.
   For those who want to read it, here's what the Constitution says:
   "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 to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States."
  In closing, note this: The first words could have said, "No Person except someone born in the United States . . ." instead of, "No Person except a natural born Citizen." This gives further weight to the thought that the founders might have been including children born to Americans living abroad.
  Note added 4/4/18: I did not think to look up before I wrote this whether these children of Americans living abroad are considered citizens. They are. While this goes toward validating my thinking process for this blog, it spoils the blog I wrote the next day. Read a blog written 4/4/18 for what it means for Barack Obama, if you haven't already guessed.

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