Does the US president have to be born on us soil?

Answer 1

It depends - a person born outside the United States can be POTUS if that person meets certain requirements, and therein lies the heart of the issues with current President-Elect Obama. The current case submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court holds that he is NOT eligible due to this very reason. The office of President is the one elected position in the land that is different from all others - you MUST BE a Natural Born citizen of the United States - in other words, you have to either be born on U.S. soil, born to U.S. parents overseas, or meet one of several conditions set forth in Title 9, U.S. Code. You cannot be a Naturalized Citizen (one who is born in Another Country and has sworn allegiance to the United States, becoming a citizen).

But what does that mean exactly?

Definitions

The 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States defines citizenship as "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." The controversy concerning Obama is that he was born to an American mother and a Kenyan father who was a British subject, and they were not married at the time. The interpretation of the law is not grandfathered after changes; the law that applies is the law that was in effect at the time the person was born. During the period he was born, the law that currently states that a person can be a Natural Born citizen if one parent is an alien and the other an American citizen was changed after Obama was born.

Additionally, there are certain things that can undue the "Natural Born" status of a U.S. citizen. It's not easy, but it happens, and it appears that Obama falls into at least one category:

Losing your citizenship For a natural-born citizen, losing your citizenship is actually quite difficult. The law prohibits the taking of your citizenship against your will, but there are certain actions a citizen can take which are assumed to be a free-will decision that constitutes a voluntary renunciation of the citizenship. Moving to another country for an extended period of time does not constitute an act that presumes renunciation. Neither does taking a routine-level job with a foreign government. This stand is quite different from U.S. policy of the past, where even being naturalized in another nation could be seen as renunciation. The sections of the law that pertained to losing ones nationality for many of these cases was found at 8 USC 1482 and related sections. The U.S. Code does, however, see some acts as creating the possibility of a loss of nationality. When you lose your U.S. nationality, you are no longer under the protection or jurisdiction of the United States. When the United States considers you to no longer be of U.S. nationality, it in effect considers you to no longer be a citizen. Note that these are things you can do that may force you to lose your citizenship. The law also says that these acts must be voluntary and with the intent of losing U.S. citizenship. The ways to lose citizenship are detailed in 8 USC 1481: * Becoming naturalized in another country * Swearing an oath of allegiance to another country * Serving in the armed forces of a nation at war with the U.S., or if you are an officer in that force * Working for the government of another nation if doing so requires that you become naturalized or that you swear an oath of allegiance * Formally renouncing citizenship at a U.S. consular office * Formally renouncing citizenship to the U.S. Attorney General * By being convicted of committing treason Obama was adopted by an Indonesian - that country has no dual-citizenship agreement, so there exists the possibility that he lost his US citizenship and his nationality at that time. However, it's unlikely. The real meat of the Berg case is that the law in effect at the time Obama was born doesn't support him being a NBC because of the status then of his mother and father.

Answer 2

You cannot be president if you weren't born in America

THE ABOVE ANSWER IS NOT ENTIRELY ACCURATE

Article 2 Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution specifies the following qualifications for President of the United 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 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."

None of the early Presidents were born in the United States, because the U.S. did not exist as a country at the time of their births. Instead, they were made eligible by the alternate qualification of being a citizen of the United States at the time of the Constitution's adoption.

A candidate is qualified to become President, even if he or she was born outside of the United States, so long as they were a "natural born citizen" of the U.S.. For example, Senator John McCain (2008 Presidential candidate) was born in the Panama Canal Zone and his parents were U.S. citizens. Since his parents' citizenships automaticly made him a U.S. citizen at birth, he is qualified under the "natural born citizen" rule.

President Barack Obama was almost born outside of the United States. He was born in Hawaii only months after it became a U.S. state. But even if he had been born outside of the U.S., his mother's U.S. citizenship entitled him to U.S. citizenship as well.

The above edit is true. As an example, a better one than Hawaii, US Senator Cruz from Texas is running for US president. His mother was an American and she gave birth to Cruz in Canada.

Answer 3

No. The Constitution specifically requires a president to be a "naturally-born", not "native-born", US citizen. This means to be born either on US soil or to parents that were US citizens when you were born.

Answer 4

Yes, a president must be born on U.S. soil. The Constitution says this is a requirement; he (or she) cannot have become a citizen through naturalization. President Obama was born in Hawaii, so he fulfills the requirement of having been born on U.S. soil.