I've seen it buzzing around the internet for several weeks now -- suggestions that Barack Obama is not actually an American citizen at all. In the last 24 hours, I've seen that suggestion appear again, on two websites that I generally respect even if I don't agree with them on everything.

The latest version I've encountered reads this way:

Barack Obama is not a legal U.S. natural-born citizen according to the law on the books at the time of his birth, which falls between December 24, 1952, to November 13, 1986. Federal Law requires that the office of President requires a natural-born citizen if the child was not born to two U.S. Citizen parents. This is what exempts John McCain, though he was born in the US Panama Canal Zone.

US Law very clearly states: '. . . If only one parent is a U.S. Citizen at the time of one's birth, that parent must have resided in the United States for minimum ten years, five of which must be after the age of 16.' Barack Obama's father was not a U.S. Citizen is a fact.

Obama's mother was only 18 when Obama was born. This means even though she had been a U.S. Citizen for 10 years, (or citizen of Hawaii being a territory), his mother fails the test for at-least-5-years- prior-to Barack Obama's birth, but-after-age-16.

In essence, Mother alone is not old enough to qualify her son for automatic U.S. Citizenship. At most, 2 years elapsed from his mother turning 16 to the time of Barack Obama's birth when she was 18. His mother would have needed to have been 16 + 5 = 21 years old at the time of Barack Obama's birth for him to be a natural-born citizen. Barack Obama was already 3 years old at the time his mother would have needed to be to allow him natural citizenship from his only U.S. Citizen parent. Obama should have been naturalized as a citizen . . but that would disqualify him from holding the office.

The Constitution clearly declares: Naturalized citizens are ineligible to hold the office of President. Though Barack Obama was sent back to Hawaii at age 10, any other information does not matter because his mother is the one who must fulfill the requirement to be a U.S. Citzen for 10 years prior to his birth on August 4, 1961, with 5 of those years being after age 16.

Further, Obama may have had to have remained in the USA for some time frame to protect any citizenship he might have had, rather than living in Indonesia. This is very clear cut and a glaring violation of U.S. Election law. I think the Governor Schwarzenegger of California should be very interested in discovering if Obama is allowed to be elected President without being a natural-born U.S. Citizen, since this would set a precedent. Stay tuned to your TV sets because I suspect some of this information will be leaking through over the next several days.

So let's do some quick analysis here.

1) According to his biography, Barack Obama was born on August 4, 1961, at the Kapiolani Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Let's assume for the moment that this information is correct. Given that Hawaii had been a state for just under two years at that time, it is beyond dispute that Barack Obama was born in and subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and therefore a natural born citizen of the United States and the state of Hawaii, based upon the clear language of the Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution and affirmed by the Supreme Court in United States v. Wong Kim Ark.

2) But what of the purported statutory language cited by these bloggers which would seem to argue to the contrary?

'. . . If only one parent is a U.S. Citizen at the time of one's birth, that parent must have resided in the United States for minimum ten years, five of which must be after the age of 16.'

First, such language would be constitutionally invalid on its face if it were applied to anyone born within the United States. And secondly, unfortunately for those who attempt to use it to cast shadows upon the citizenship of Barack Obama, the statute in question never purported to apply to those born on American soil. Instead, it applied only children of American citizens born abroad.

But let's look at the actual statutory language of the Immigration and Nationality Act of June 27, 1952 (66 Stat. 163, 235, 8 U.S. Code Section 1401 (b):

Section 301. (a) The following shall be nationals and citizens of the United States at birth:

(1) a person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof;

* * *

(7) a person born outside the geographical limits of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents one of whom is an alien, and the other a citizen of the United States, who prior to the birth of such person, was physically present in the United States or its outlying possessions for a period or periods totaling not less than ten years, at least five of which were after attaining the age of fourteen years.

So you can see that by virtue of birth in Hawaii, the statute recognizes Obama as a citizen by virtue of the Fourteenth Amendment. The question of his parentage only comes into question if Barack Obama were born outside the United States.

3) Was Barack Obama actually born in Hawaii?

Let me begin by stating that I presume that he was -- I cannot believe that it would be possible to keep it a secret if he had not been. Some relative who knew the truth or some government employee with access to the records would have leaked it.

However, the question remains -- and clearly has not been resolved by the release of a purported birth certificate. However, AJ Strata does a great job of arguing for the validity of the certificate that is currently under dispute.

What needs to happen to settle the matter? Barack Obama needs to release a copy of the original birth certificate completed by the staff at the Kapiolani Medical Center in 1961. It should be retained on microfilm in Hawaii, and a copy would be easy enough to obtain -- I think being a US Senator and presumptive nominee for President should give him enough pull to get a copy in an expedited manner.

So let me say it -- it would appear to me beyond question that Barack Obama is a natural born citizen of the United States. By providing unambiguous documentation of this fact, Obama can lay the rumor to the contrary to rest for all time.

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