by Anonymous
(Aug. 16, 2023) — The parent citizenship requirement is what constitutes natural born status, the natural flow inherited by the child. The status of Nikki Haley at birth was that she inherited the citizenship of India from her parents as they were still citizens of India with allegiance to India. She is also a US citizen by birth, but not “natural born.” With that comes the question of allegiance, and Nikki Haley’s allegiance to India was inherited from her parents.
Read the first Supreme Court chief justice John Jay’s letter to George Washington. After that letter was written, the draft of Article II, Section 1, clause 5 of the Constitution was changed from “born citizen” (entered by Alexander Hamilton) to read “natural born.” Why would that change have been made except to show a special status requirement to run for POTUS?
A loose interpretation of Clause 5 leaves the door open to foreign influence. Foreign influence/allegiance was John Jay’s primary concern for writing to George Washington. Respectfully, you say “semantics” or “splitting hairs?” Not at all. Not when it comes to the highest office in the land.
I would support Nikki Haley in any other capacity, in any Republican administration, except as POTUS. It’s unfortunate that her parents didn’t become naturalized citizens before her birth, as they would have then taken the oath of allegiance, renouncing allegiance to any foreign country and swearing allegiance only to the U.S..
The above, in reference to Nikki Haley, also holds true for Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Kamala Harris, Vivek Ramaswamy and BARACK OBAMA.
Editor’s Note: The pertinent part of the letter John Jay wrote to George Washington on July 25, 1787 reads:
Permit me to hint, whether it would not be wise & seasonable to provide a strong check to the admission of Foreigners into the administration of our national Government, and to declare expressly that the Command in chief of the american army shall not be given to, nor devolved on, any but a natural born Citizen.
Jay Weller, Esq. expounds on the meaning of “Natural Born Citizen”:
https://www.jayweller.com/natural-born-citizen-defined/
John Bingham, the primary framer of the 14th Amendment, understood “natural born Citizen” to mean a person born in the United States to parents not owing any allegiance to a foreign Sovereign or power.
“All from other lands, who, by the terms of your laws and in compliance with their provisions become naturalized, are adopted citizens of the United States; all other persons born within the Republic, of parents owing allegiance to no other sovereignty, are natural born citizens. Gentlemen can find no exception to this statement touching natural born citizen except what is said in the Constitution in relation to [Native American] Indians”.
— John Bingham, Congressional Globe, 1862
“I find no fault with the introductory clause, which is simply declaratory of what is written in the Constitution, that every human being born within the jurisdiction of the United States of parents not owing allegiance to any foreign sovereignty is, in the language of your Constitution itself, a natural born citizen”.
— John Bingham, Congressional Globe, 1886
Interestingly, the only Trump offspring to be ineligible to run for president is Barron. The son from Trump’s marriage to Melania was born in March 2006. His mother became a naturalized citizen four months later, in July 2006.
Wish you had typed out what the letter from Jay said. Too hard to read. Jim
Done, sir.
The answer is easy it’s one who when born has no question as to their allegiance to the United States.The only people who meet that criteria are those born in the United States and hold only US citizenship, that can only be accomplished with parents who are also 100% US Citizens.
This was clearly the founders intent as they allowed themselves to be eligible for the Presidency at the inception of the constitution as they knew it would take a generation to create individuals who held sole allegiance to the United States.
It’s not rocket science but outside forces don’t like the requirement and have been successful in allowing non natural born citizen to ascend to our highest office.
Concise and accurate, thank you…