Uh, If Barack's Mother Is American, Isn't He American Anyway?

[maddowfan]

Don't you get dual citizenship?

lol.

[YOY]

1. Not inherently. He is a citizen regardless.

There are two systems of citizenship followed by most Countries. 1. Birth by a national and 2. Soil birth. The United States has follows the 2nd. IF you are born on American Soil you are American Citizen even if both parents are foreign nationals (regardless of citizenship): e.g. the child of Mexican (legally here or not) Immigrants born in Dallas, TX is an American Citizen. The rules get quite complicated. Some Naval vessels and all US Embassies are considered American Soil to boot.

Other countries merely need you to be the child of a citizen regardless of where you are born.

Since Obama was born in Hawaii he is an American Citizen as shown in his birth certificate about 1 million times.

Why is this even a question??? What kind of an idiot is concerned with the completely disproven.

[RaleighNCDUer]

2. My understanding is the US goes by both.

I was raised as a military brat, spent 12 of my first 18 years overseas, and I never once heard of any of my brat compatriots being non-citizens for being born out of the country to American parents. I knew a number of kids born in Germany who were dual citizens because of a serviceman father and German mother, but even if born off base, off any slightest hint of US soil, they were Americans.

[YOY]

6. Perhaps the Army did the legwork for you?

Then again, one of the greatest f*** ups a PC volunteer can do is to knock up a native of their host country...there were legal problems involved so perhaps you may be right.

My wife's country follows the latter set of rules. My daughter was born here and has dual citizenship and two passports.

[Mass]

7. The US does both. My kids have dual citizenship even if they were not born in the US.

However, they cannot give citizenship to their kids automatically if they have not spent more than a certain number of years in the US before their 25 th birthday or their kids are born on AMerican territory. However, I am not sure how recent this is (at least 19 as my son is 19 and it was already like that at that time. All we had to do was to go to the US consulate get a certificate of birth Abroad and he got a passport immediately).

[Raineyb]

15. Indeed. I have two sisters with dual citizenship

Their mother is Danish and we have the same father. (US Serviceman) Despite the fact that my father is a naturalized citizen both of my sisters have US citizenship along with US Passports because of him. They use their US passport to get in and out of this country while using their EU passport to get back in. (It's easier to get through customs that way.)

Regards

[zbdent]

3. They'll have the same guy (from his mommy's basement) that said he could

re-create the documents that Dan Rather used claim that he could "produce" the exact same birth certificate ...

[SteelPenguin]

4. One of their arguments goes as such

at the time of his birth, citizenship wasn't necessarily automatically granted to a child from a parent with American nationality unless they were I believe 21 years old, and since Obama's mother was younger than that, then if he were born outside of the U.S. he wouldn't have been granted citizenship.

Too bad for them he was born IN HAWAII and has a valid U.S. birth certificate that has been confirmed as such.

[Not the Only One]

8. Right. That's the "problem" if there is one-- the age of Obama's mom at the time of Barack's birth.

The children of "minors" in that way would be the potential complication.

[Dawgs]

9. Actually not true. There is a law that protects Obama from this.

It doesn't matter that his Mom was only 18 when he was born.

[SteelPenguin]

13. Now there is

In 1961 there wasn't is how the story goes. Not sure if the law was retroactive...

Again it's all meaningless hooey since he was born in Hawaii.

[Dawgs]

22. I think the law was retroactive. But, you're right, it doesn't matter cause he was born in US.

Freepers are dumb.

[zippy890]

10. where do the Stupids think he was born?

Africa?



don't get this whole citizenship frenzy they've worked themselves into. (freepers)

[YOY]

11. They are grasping at straws for the inevitable Obama Presidency.

I have no idea what they fear. Obama is hardly far left as they were told. If I were one of them I'd be actually kind of pissed at the people who told me that he was such. Then again they only see what they want to see. Some here do as well but never to the level I see from FReeps.

[bdamomma]

18. they are grasping is correct.

what is wrong with these people?? they are delusional, and unable to face reality.

[SteelPenguin]

12. yes they think he was born in kenya

They think the birth certificate he presented is a forgery. His father's mother apparently claimed she attended his birth in Kenya.

The whole thing doesn't pass the sniff test. Why, in 1961, would a mother of a half black child commit fraud to claim her child was born in the U.S., including both having someone file false documentation in Hawaii about the birth which would mean co-conspirators, as well as doing things for additional evidence such as putting in a birth anouncement in the local paper.

Just in case her child would run for president someday?

If Obama had been born in Kenya, she would have had absolutely no reason to do any of that. she could simply have returned with her child and he would have been granted citizenship. There would have been zero reason for the deception (other than foreseeing this SINGLE consequence)

Just ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. Occam's razor. He was born in Hawaii.

[Adelante]

16. To clarify one point: Obama's step-grandmother did not claim he was born in Kenya

According to the taped interview in full, there was a language mixup which was corrected but exploited anyway.

On Oct. 16, an Anabaptist minister named Ron McRae called Sarah Hussein Obama, the president-elect's 86-year-old paternal step-grandmother, at her home in Kenya. Two translators were on the line when McRae asked if the elder Obama was "present" when the president-elect was born. One of the translators says "yes." McRae contacted Berg and gave him a partial transcript of the call with a signed affidavit. He opted not to include the rest of the call, in which he asks the question more directly—"Was he born in Mombassa?"—and the translators, finally understanding him, tell him repeatedly that the president-elect was born in Hawaii.

http://www.slate.com/id/2206033

[SteelPenguin]

19. Ah awesome

I stand corrected. So it's not even that there is a crazy grandmother....even she said he was born in hawaii.

....man these people are certifiable.

[Adelante]

20. They sure are a bunch of sickos

I had only read this article yesterday. I wasn't sure either what the step-grandma said or didn't say, so the explanation was very welcome.

[Avalux]

5. Obama is American because he was BORN here. Period. n/t

[Bucky]

14. Please don't feed the cockroaches, they only breed more

The secret to working with children is knowing when to correct irritating behavior and when to ignore it and let it go away from its own irrelevance

[EffieBlack]

17. Hi father is AFRICAN so how could he POSSIBLY be American?

[gauguin57]

21. There's a complication (for foreign-born babies) in U.S. immigration law in effect in 1961

... and this is part of what the "birthers" are pinning their ridiculous hopes on ... The law that was in effect until 1986 (and was in effect when Barack was born) says that, if you have one U.S. citizen parent and one foreign-national parent ... and IF the baby is born OUTSIDE the U.S., and IF the U.S. citizen parent had not lived in the United States for at least five years after the age of 16 by the time the baby was born (and Ann Dunham was only 18 when she gave birth to Barack, remember, so she, technically, didn't meet that requirement) ... then U.S. citizenship did NOT pass from that parent to the baby.

Weird, huh? But that is actually how U.S. immigration law read at the time.
They sure weren't thinking about teen parents when they made that rule.

HOWEVER ... since Barack was born IN THE UNITED STATES, that whole rule about the age of the U.S. parent has nothing to do with this situation (it's just that the "birthers" believe he was born outside the U.S. (because of some bogus audiotape that purports to be of Obama's African grandmother saying Barack was born in Kenya. yeah, right)).

[gauguin57]

23. frankly, this citizenship thing changes more than our reasons for going into Iraq!

First it was "mom too young to confer citizenship to foreign-born baby" (see post about 1961 immigration law) ... then it was "he was born in Kenya" then it was "he was born in Vancouver" then it was "his parents weren't legally married because his father was tribally married to another woman first" (and that changes things how??) then it was "he lost his citizenship in Indonesia" then it was "he had dual citizenship"

If you're going to cling to a delusional concept, at least make up your mind about the FACTS of the delusional concept!

Like I said ... just like Iraq war. "They did 9/11" followed by "WMD" followed by "Saddam a bad guy" followed by ... whatever the reason is these days.

Wingers ... making it up as they go along since 1776!

[The Magistrate]

24. Locking

Flame-Bait.