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Originally Posted by Sunshine Chick
I cannot find out if Barrys mom was a US citizen when Barry was born, some reports state that she gave up her US citizenship when she moved and never gained her US citizenship back when she came back to America.
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I think you're confused on the issues and the facts.
The law at the time of his birth stated:
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"(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.
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Indonesia is "outside the geographical limits of the Unites and its outlying possessions."
In order for his mother to be a US citizen, she had to live in the US for a period of 5 years after age 14, even though she was born in the US.
This is an excellent example of a "Red Menace" law. It was thought that impressionable adolescents would be turned into RedCommiebots if they weren't in the US watching the beautifully written and directed "Duck & Cover" commercials for at least 5 years.
The claim made is that his mother left the US before she reached the age of 19 to conduct field work in Indonesia. A competing claims is that she left to visit Kenya with her husband and meet his family.
If either claim proves to be true, then she effectively lost her citizenship and Obama is not a US citizen.
Also in effect at that time was:
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(b) Any person who is a national and citizen of the United States at birth under paragraph (7) of subsection (a), shall lose his nationality and citizenship unless he shall come to the United States prior to attaining the age of twenty-three years and shall immediately following any such coming be continuously physically present in the United State(s) for at least five years: Provided, That such physical presence follows the attainment of the age of fourteen years and precedes the age of twenty-eight years.
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We know that he returned to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents at about age 14, probably to specifically comply with the law.
In 1986, the law was changed to require only two years in the US after age 14.
However, the law does not apply retroactively.
In 1994 the law was changed again so that if either a parent or grandparent was in the US for at least 2 years after age 14, you're a citizen if born outside the US.
Yet again, the law does not apply retroactively.
The issue comes down to when did she leave the US, before or after she turned 19 years old?
There's no evidence she ever surrendered her citizenship, or that she even intended to do so. She was in Indonesia for a legitimate reason, conducting field research. It is not uncommon for ethnographers to live in a country and do field work for 7-12 years at a time.
The fact that she was allowed unimpeded re-entry to the US suggests she never surrendered her citizenship or intended to do so, but then Lee Harvey Oswald re-entered unimpeded too.
US Supreme Court case law places the burden of proof on the accuser. The standard is a preponderance of the evidence. I don't think anyone could prove by a preponderance of evidence that she intended to relinquish her US citizenship.
It would take an extraordinary amount of evidence, essentially a "smoking gun" document to convince the trier of facts she intended to do that.
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