Eligibility, and the Flaw of the British Common Law Argument

By Douglas V. Gibbs

On this site there has been a number of discussions regarding Natural Born Citizenship. I have contended that the plaintiffs in Georgia who claim the definition of Natural Born Citizenship is not about where you are born, but if your parents are citizens, is correct. Among my sources are Vatell's Law of Nations, and the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1790, which both give that definition.

However, the opposition has been telling me that British Common Law is what was used, and that under British Common Law the definition was about "where" one was born. Therefore, if Obama was born in Hawaii as he has indicated, he is in fact a Natural Born Citizen.

Here is the problem with the opposition's argument. First, it doesn't match the mood of the nation when the Constitution was written. Second, there examples of British Common Law was in regards of citizenship, not Natural Born Citizenship, and the two are very different for a reason. Third, and this is the real kicker, even under British Common Law, if in fact that was what the founders were using as a definition of Natural Born Citizen, Obama would still be ineligible, because under British Common Law the father needed to be a British Subject for the person to be a citizen. In the United States, then, with that definition, it would at least require that the father was an American at the time of birth of the child. In Obama's case, we all know that not only was Barack Obama Sr. not born in the United States, nor was he a citizen of this country, but in fact he was Kenyan, and a British subject.

As usual, the liberal left is wrong again.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Defining Natural Born Citizen - The Federalist Blog

Citizenship by Descent - Prior to 1983, as a general rule, British nationality could be transmitted from only the father, and parents were required to be married. . . Children born in Commonwealth countries or the Republic of Ireland could not normally access British nationality if the father was British by descent.