No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.[註 2]
早期联邦法官圣乔治·塔克(英语:St. George Tucker)在其1803年版的威廉·布莱克斯通的《英国法释义》中写道(这或许是制宪会议代表们关于宪法术语的主要权威资料),自然出生公民条款是“抵御外国影响的有效手段”,并且“因此,对于外国人进入我国议会,无论采取何种防范措施都不为过[1]。”塔克在脚注中写道,归化公民与自然出生公民享有同等权利,只是“归化公民永远不能被选为美国总统”[47]。
林奇案的判决在随后的众多案件中被引用为具有说服力或权威性的先例,并强化了“自然出生公民”的解释,即出生在“美国领土和效忠国境内”,无论父母的公民身份如何。例如,在1884年的案件中[57],联邦法院裁定,尽管法律禁止中国访客入籍,但在美国出生的中国人凭出生即可成为美国公民,即使在中国长期居留,也依然拥有美国公民身份。大法官斯蒂芬·J·菲尔德(英语:Stephen Johnson Field)援引林奇案写道:
与先前的判决一致,美国最高法院在1939年“珀金斯诉埃尔格案(英语:Perkins v. Elg)”的判决中裁定,在美国出生并在其他国家长大的人是自然出生的美国公民,并明确指出他们可以“成为美国总统”[64]。该案涉及一名出生于纽约的年轻女子,她的父亲一年前入籍美国。然而,当她大约四岁时,她的父母带着她返回瑞典并在该国逗留。20岁时,她联系了美国驻瑞典大使馆,并在21岁生日后不久持美国护照返回美国,并被接纳为美国公民。多年后,当她还在美国时,她在瑞典的父亲放弃了美国国籍,因此,美国劳工部(当时的移民及归化局上级机关)宣布她为非公民,并试图将她驱逐出境。随后该女子提起诉讼,请求法院宣告她出生即为美国公民。她在初审阶段、巡回法院(巡回法院反复称她为“自然出生的美国公民”[65])以及最终在美国最高法院均胜诉。最高法院的判决大量引用了美国司法部长在斯坦考勒案中的意见(详见下一节#政府官员的解释),其中包括“在美国出生但在其他国家长大的人仍有可能成为美国总统”的意见[64]。
美国最高法院大法官約瑟夫·斯多利曾表示,“本土公民”与“自然出生公民”同义,尽管他并未对这两个词进行定义。他曾两次(1834年在《宪法课本》(Constitutional Class Book)[84],1840年在《美国宪法详解》(A Familiar Exposition of the United States)[85])写道:
^《杜克法学期刊》的一篇文章指出:“由于逗号的位置问题,如果从字面上理解,这一条款似乎暗示只有在宪法通过时在世的人才有资格担任总统。然而,出于目的主义和结果主义的原因,该条款从未被这样解读过”。("Because of the placement of the commas, this clause, if read literally, suggests that only individuals alive at the time the Constitution was adopted are eligible to be president. For purposive and consequentialist reasons, however, the clause never has been read that way.")[10]
^条款原文:"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."
^原文:That the Children of all natural born Subjects born out of the Ligeance of Her Majesty Her Heires and Successors shall be deemed adjudged and taken to be natural born Subjects of this Kingdom to all Intents Constructions and Purposes whatsoever
^原文:for the explaining the said recited Clause in the said Act . . . [t]hat all Children born out of the Ligeance of the Crown of England, or of Great Britain, or which shall hereafter be born out of such Ligeance, whose Fathers were or shall be natural-born Subjects of the Crown of England, or of Great Britain, at the Time of the Birth of such Children respectively ... are hereby declared to be natural-born Subjects of the Crown of Great Britain, to all Intents, Constructions and Purposes whatsoever.
^原文:[A]ll persons born out of the legience of His Majesty, His Heirs, or Successors, who have ... or shall inhabit or reside for ... seven years or more in any of His Majesty's colonies in America ... shall be deemed, adjudged, and taken to be His Majesty's natural-born subjects of this Kingdom.
^原文:But by several more modern statutes ... all children, born out of the king's ligeance, whose fathers were natural-born subjects, are now natural-born subjects themselves, to all intents and purposes, without any exception; unless their said fathers were attainted, or banished beyond sea, for high treason; or were then in the service of a prince at enmity with Great Britain.
^原文:"[I]f any of the King's Ambassadors in foreign nations, have children there of their wives, being English women, by the common laws of England they are natural-born subjects, and yet they are born out of the King's dominions."
^原文:Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland—that the Marquis de laFayette and his Heirs male forever shall be and they and each of them are hereby deemed adjudged and taken to be natural born Citizens of this State and shall henceforth be entitled to all the Immunities, Rights and Privileges of natural born Citizens thereof ...
^原文:"No person shall be eligible to the office of President of the United States unless he be now a Citizen of one of the States, or hereafter be born a Citizen of the United States."
^原文:Permit me to hint, whether it would not be wise and 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 devolve on, any but a natural born Citizen.
^原文:"the children of citizens of the United States, that may be born beyond sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born citizens...".
^原文:Suppose a person should be elected president who was native born, but of alien parents; could there be any reasonable doubt that he was eligible under the Constitution? I think not. The position would be decisive in his favor, that by the rule of the common law, in force when the Constitution was adopted, he is a citizen.
^原文:Upon principle, therefore, I can entertain no doubt, but that by the law of the United States, every person born within the dominions and allegiance of the United States, whatever the situation of his parents, is a natural born citizen. It is surprising that there has been no judicial decision upon this question.[56]
^原文:After an exhaustive examination of the law, the Vice-Chancellor said that he entertained no doubt that every person born within the dominions and allegiance of the United States, whatever the situation of his parents, was a natural-born citizen, and added that this was the general understanding of the legal profession, and the universal impression of the public mind.
^原文:"The Constitution does not, in words, say who shall be natural-born citizens. Resort must be had elsewhere to ascertain that. At common-law, with the nomenclature of which the framers of the Constitution were familiar, it was never doubted that all children born in a country of parents who were its citizens became themselves, upon their birth, citizens also. These were natives, or natural-born citizens, as distinguished from aliens or foreigners. Some authorities go further and include as citizens children born within the jurisdiction without reference to the citizenship of their parents. As to this class there have been doubts, but never as to the first."
^原文:"Article II, section 1, clause 5 does not state this. No legal authority has ever stated that the Natural Born Citizen clause means what plaintiff Strunk claims it says. ... Moreover, President Obama is the sixth U.S. President to have had one or both of his parents not born on U.S. soil".
^原文:The Constitution leaves no room for doubt upon this subject. The words "natural born citizen of the United States" appear in it, and the other provision appears in it that, "Congress shall have power to pass a uniform system of naturalization." To naturalize a person is to admit him to citizenship. Who are natural born citizens but those born within the Republic? Those born within the Republic, whether black or white, are citizens by birth—natural born citizens.
^原文: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; but, sir, I may be allowed to say further that I deny that the Congress of the United States ever had the power, or color of power to say that any man born within the jurisdiction of the United States, not owing a foreign allegiance, is not and shall not be a citizen of the United States. Citizenship is his birthright and neither the Congress nor the States can justly or lawfully take it from him.
^原文:I conclude that the free man of color, mentioned in your letter, if born in the United States, is a citizen of the United States.
^原文:... our constitution, in speaking of natural born citizens, uses no affirmative language to make them such, but only recognizes and reaffirms the universal principle, common to all nations, and as old as political society, that the people born in a country do constitute the nation, and, as individuals, are natural members of the body politic.
^原文:I am quite clear in the opinion that children born in the United States of alien parents, who have never been naturalized, are native-born citizens of the United States, and, of course, do not require the formality of naturalization to entitle them to the rights and privileges of such citizenship. I might sustain this opinion by a reference to the well-settled principle of the common law of England on this subject; to the writings of many of the earlier and later commentators on our Constitution and laws; ... and lastly to the dicta and decisions of many of our national and state tribunals. But all this has been well done by Assistant Vice Chancellor Sandford, in the case of Lynch vs. Clarke, and I forbear. I refer to his opinion for a full and clear statement of the principle, and of the reasons and authorities for its support.
^原文:In reply to the inquiry ... whether "the children of foreign parents born in the United States, but brought to the country of which the father is a subject, and continuing to reside within the jurisdiction of their father's country, are entitled to protection as citizens of the United States", I have to observe that it is presumed that, according to the common law, any person born in the United States, unless he be born in one of the foreign legations therein, may be considered a citizen thereof until he formally renounces his citizenship. There is not, however any United States statute containing a provision upon this subject, nor, so far as I am aware, has there been any judicial decision in regard to it.
^原文:Under the treaty [of 1868 with Germany], and in harmony with American doctrine, it is clear that Steinkauler the father abandoned his naturalization in America and became a German subject (his son being yet a minor), and that by virtue of German laws the son acquired German nationality. It is equally clear that the son, by birth, has American nationality, and hence he has two nationalities, one natural, the other acquired ... Young Steinkauler is a native-born American citizen. There is no law of the United States under which his father or any other person can deprive him of his birthright. He can return to America at the age of 21, and in due time, if the people elect, he can become President of the United States. ... I am of opinion that when he reaches the age of 21 years he can then elect whether he will return and take the nationality of his birth, with its duties and privileges, or retain the nationality acquired by the act of his father.
^原文:There is no uniform rule of international law covering the subject of citizenship. Every nation determines for itself who shall, and who shall not, be its citizens. ... By the law of the United States, citizenship depends, generally, on the place of birth; nevertheless the children of citizens, born out of the jurisdiction of the United States, are also citizens. ... The Constitution of the United States, while it recognized citizenship of the United States in prescribing the qualifications of the President, Senators, and Representatives, contained no definition of citizenship until the adoption of the 14th Amendment, in 1868; nor did Congress attempt to define it until the passage of the civil rights act, in 1866. ... Prior to this time the subject of citizenship by birth was generally held to be regulated by the common law, by which all persons born within the limits and allegiance of the United States were deemed natural-born citizens. It was assumed by the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Murray v. The Charming Betsy (1804) 2 Cranch (6 U.S.) 64, 119, 2 L.Ed. 208, 226, that all persons born in the United States were citizens thereof. ... In M'Creery v. Somerville (1824) 9 Wheat. (22 U.S.) 354, 6 L.Ed. 109, which concerned the title to land in the state of Maryland, it was assumed that children born in that state to an alien were native-born citizens of the United States. ... The Federal courts have almost uniformly held that birth in the United States, of itself, confers citizenship.
^原文:The citizens of each state constituted the citizens of the United States when the Constitution was adopted. ... [He] who was subsequently born the citizen of a State, became at the moment of his birth a citizen of the United States. Therefore every person born within the United States, its territories or districts, whether the parents are citizens or aliens, is a natural born citizen in the sense of the Constitution, and entitled to all the rights and privileges appertaining to that capacity. ... Under our Constitution the question is settled by its express language, and when we are informed ... no person is eligible to the office of President unless he is a natural born citizen, the principle that the place of birth creates the relative quality is established as to us.
^原文:... and that must lead us to the conclusion that every person born in the United States is a natural-born citizen of such States, except it may be that children born on our soil to temporary sojourners or representatives of foreign Governments, are native-born citizens of the United States.[83]
^原文:It is not too much to say that no one, but a native citizen, ought ordinarily to be [e]ntrusted with an office so vital to the safety and liberties of the people.
^原文:If it was intended that anybody who was a citizen by birth should be eligible, it would only have been necessary to say, "no person, except a native-born citizen"; but the framers thought it wise, in view of the probable influx of European immigration, to provide that the president should at least be the child of citizens owing allegiance to the United States at the time of his birth. It may be observed in passing that the current phrase "native-born citizen" is well understood; but it is pleonasm and should be discarded; and the correct designation, "native citizen" should be substituted in all constitutional and statutory enactments, in judicial decisions and in legal discussions where accuracy and precise language are essential to intelligent discussion.
^原文:natural-born subject or citizen; a denizen by birth; one who owes his domicile or citizenship to the fact of his birth within the country referred to. The term may also include one born abroad, if his parents were then citizens of the country, and not permanently residing in foreign parts.
^原文:Considering the history of the constitutional qualifications provision, the common use and meaning of the phrase "natural-born subject" in England and in the Colonies in the 1700s, the clause's apparent intent, the subsequent action of the first Congress in enacting the Naturalization Act of 1790 (expressly defining the term "natural born citizen" to include a person born abroad to parents who are United States citizens), as well as subsequent Supreme Court dicta, it appears that the most logical inferences would indicate that the phrase "natural born Citizen" would mean a person who is entitled to U.S. citizenship "at birth" or "by birth".
^原文:The weight of legal and historical authority indicates that the term "natural born" citizen would mean a person who is entitled to U.S. citizenship "by birth" or "at birth," either by being born "in" the United States and under its jurisdiction, even those born to alien parents; by being born abroad to U.S. citizen-parents; or by being born in other situations meeting legal requirements for U.S. citizenship "at birth". Such term, however, would not include a person who was not a U.S. citizen by birth or at birth, and who was thus born an "alien" required to go through the legal process of "naturalization" to become a U.S. citizen.
^原文:Although the eligibility of U.S. born citizens has been settled law for more than a century, there have been legitimate legal issues raised concerning those born outside of the country to U.S. citizens. From historical material and case law, it appears that the common understanding of the term "natural born" in England and in the American colonies in the 1700s included both the strict common law meaning as born in the territory (jus soli), as well as the statutory laws adopted in England since at least 1350, which included children born abroad to British fathers (jus sanguinis, the law of descent). Legal scholars in the field of citizenship have asserted that this common understanding and legal meaning in England and in the American colonies was incorporated into the usage and intent of the term in the U.S. Constitution to include those who are citizens at birth.
^原文:"there is agreement that 'natural born citizens' include those made citizens by birth under the 14th Amendment."
^原文:I ... have personally seen and verified that the Hawai'i State Department of Health has Sen. Obama's original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures.
^原文:I ... have personally seen and verified that the Hawai'i State Department of Health has Sen. Obama's original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures.
^原文:Based upon the language of Article II, Section 1, Clause 4 and the guidance provided by Wong Kim Ark, we conclude that persons born within the borders of the United States are 'natural born Citizens' for Article II, Section 1 purposes, regardless of the citizenship of their parents.
^原文:The eligibility requirements to be President of the United States are such that the individual must be a "natural born citizen" of the United States ... It is well settled that those born in the United States are considered natural born citizens. See, e.g. United States v. Ark [sic] ...
^原文:Kamala Harris is *not* an American Black. She is half Indian and half Jamaican.
^原文:"I just heard it today that she doesn't meet the requirements and by the way the lawyer that wrote that piece is a very highly qualified, very talented lawyer."
^Williams, Pete. 'Natural Born' Issue for Ted Cruz Is Not Settled and Not Going Away. NBC News. 2016-01-19. The emerging consensus of the legal experts, however, is that being 'natural born' means becoming a citizen at the moment of birth, as opposed to achieving it later through the process of naturalization....
^ 3.03.1Maskell, Jack. Qualifications for President and the 'Natural Born' Citizenship Eligibility Requirement(PDF). Congressional Research Service: 2. 2011-11-14 [2012-02-25]. In addition to historical and textual analysis, numerous holdings and references in federal (and state) cases for more than a century have clearly indicated that those born in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction (i.e., not born to foreign diplomats or occupying military forces), even to alien parents, are citizens 'at birth' or 'by birth', and are 'natural born', as opposed to 'naturalized', U.S. citizens. There is no provision in the Constitution and no controlling American case law to support a contention that the citizenship of one's parents governs the eligibility of a native born U.S. citizen to be President.
^Coke, Edward. The reports of Sir Edward Coke, knt. [1572-1617]. In thirteen parts. A new ed., with additional notes and references, and with abstracts of the principal points. London. 2018-03-26. hdl:2027/nyp.33433009487145 –通过babel.hathitrust.org/.
^Great Britain, Statutes of the Realm, Vol. 9, p. 63 (London, Dawsons of Pall Mall 1822, reprinted 1962).
^Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393, 476 (1857). “By this same writer it is also said: "The citizens are the members of the civil society, bound to this society by certain duties, and subject to its authority; they equally participate in its advantages. The natives or natural-born citizens are those born in the country of parents who are citizens.”
^10 Opinions of the U.S. Atty.Gen. [pages] 382–413, and separately as Opinion of Attorney General Bates on Citizenship (1863, Washington, DC, Govt. Printing Office) 27 pages.
^"Citizenship of children born in the United States of alien parents", 10 Op. US Atty-Gen. 328.
^Letter from Marcy to Mason, June 6, 1854, quoted from the manuscript, reprinted (with the emphasis shown) in John Bassett Moore, A Digest of International Law [of the United States], vol. 3, sec. 373, pp. 276–277 (US House of Representatives, 56th Congress, 2d Session, Document no. 551; Washington, DC, Govt. Printing Office, 1906).
^His first name is not given in the Opinion itself but is found in the correspondence seeking the opinion, in Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States (US House of Representatives, 44th Congress, 1st Session, December 6, 1875) Exec. Doct. 1, part 1, page 563.
^Steinkauler's Case, 15 Opinions of the US Attorneys-General 15 at 17–18 (1875-06-26).
^van Dyne, Frederick, Citizenship of the United States (1904, Rochester, NY, Lawyers Co-operative Publ'g Co.) pp. 3–12. With regard to the last sentence in the quotation, van Dyne discusses some peripheral court decisions, none dealing with conventional U.S. citizenship, but with the nationality of the child of a foreigner and a member of an independent American Indian tribe whose members were not ordinarily regarded as U.S. citizens.
^Lawrence B. Solum, "Originalism and the natural born citizen clause", revised draft version, April 18, 2010 (SSRN), p. 1, n. 3. However, other passages of his revised draft still imply U.S. citizenship of both parents; cf. i.a. pp. 3, 9, 11.
^Article II of Convention Between the United States and the Republic of Panama states: "...the cities of Panama and Colon and the harbors adjacent to said cities, which are included within the boundaries of the zone above described, shall not be included within this grant".
^This map clearly shows Colon is not part of the Canal Zone. Colon Hospital can be seen on the map at the North end of the island. (Source: http://www.serve.com/~CZBrats/)
^Foreign Affairs Manual 8 FAM 301.1 Acquisition by Birth in the United States. United States Department of State. [2018-07-18]. 8 FAM 301.1-3(c)(1): "Despite widespread popular belief, U.S. military installations abroad and U.S. diplomatic facilities are not part of the United States within the meaning of the 14th Amendment. A child born on the premises of such a facility is not subject to U.S. jurisdiction and does not acquire U.S. citizenship by reason of birth."
^S.Res.511: A resolution recognizing that John Sidney McCain, III, is a natural-born citizen; sponsors: Sen. Claire McCaskill, Sen. Barack Obama et al.; page S2951 notes Chairman Patrick Leahy as agreeing to Secretary Michael Chertoff's "assumption and understanding" that a citizen is a natural-born citizen, if he or she was "born of American parents".
^Lawrence B. Solum, "Originalism and the natural born citizen clause", Michigan Law Review: First Impressions 107, September 2008互联网档案馆的存檔,存档日期2011-02-04., p. 30.
^Merda, Chad. Illinois election board: Ted Cruz is a natural-born citizen. Chicago Sun-Times (Chicago, Illinois). 2016-02-03 [2016-02-04]. (原始内容存档于2016-02-04). The candidate is a natural born citizen by virtue of being born in Canada to his mother who was a U.S. citizen at the time of his birth," the board said. It said that Cruz "did not have to take any steps to go through a naturalization process at some point after birth" and therefore "further discussion on this issue is unnecessary.
^S.D. Ohio. Neal v. Harris. Casetext. 2020-11-13. The Court further notes that, even if Petitioner satisfied the requirements for standing (he does not), and the requirements for a writ (a question the Court does not, and need not, reach), his constitutional argument would fail, as he concedes that Respondent Harris was born in Oakland, California. See United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649, 702 (1898); accord Tisdale v. Obama, No. 3:12-CV-00036-JAG, 2012 WL 7856823, at *1 (E.D. Va. Jan. 23, 2012), aff'd, 473 F. App'x 203 (4th Cir. 2012) ('It is well settled that those born in the United States are considered natural born citizens.'); Ankeny v. Governor of Indiana, 916 N.E.2d 678 (Ind. Ct. App. 2009) (explaining that the crux of the plaintiffs' argument is that there is a distinction between a 'citizen of the United States,' as provided in the Fourteenth Amendment, and a 'natural born Citizen,' as required for qualification to be President under Article II, and, to the plaintiffs, 'the difference involves having [two] parents of U.S. citizenship, owing no foreign allegiance,' and holding that, '[b]ased upon the language of Article II, Section 1, Clause [5] and the guidance provided by Wong Kim Ark, we conclude that persons born within the borders of the United States are "natural born Citizens" for Article II, Section 1 purposes, regardless of the citizenship of their parents.').