I really really really wanted to stay out of this. I am already enough of a conspiracy nut. But the more you read the more murky it gets. I have maintained all along that he is a Citizen and just to drop it, but now I am not so sure. In my reading of the Founders intentions it appears that they did not want anyone who had any dual loyalties, no dual citizenship, they didn’t even want anyone to run for President who had been born in England. This is a perfectly reasonable thing considering our relationship with the King at the time. But the law is somewhat opaque when it comes to what the founders meant when they said natural born. In the U.S. unlike many other countries, one is assumed to be a citizen either by Jus Sanguis , By Blood, or Jus Soli, By Soil. So either being born to an American citizen (especially mother), or by being born actually in the states (as long as your parents were not foreign diplomats etc.) makes you a citizen. Also the U.S. (differing from most other countries) recognizes dual Citizenship.
It is understood that Presidential Qualifications would keep, say, Ahnold Swarzenkennedy from being president because he was not born to U.S. Citizens and not born on U.S. Soil (Austria). A child born to a foreign diplomat (because they are not subject to the laws of the U.S.) on U.S. soil is not a citizen nor qualified to be President. Children born to U.S. Servicemen and –women on foreign soil (esp. Military bases) are understood to be Qualified for Presidency. Likewise being born actually at a U.S. Embassy (because they are recognized as being U.S. Soil makes you a natural born citizen.
So what do we know about Barry? This much is at least accepted as fact :
Summer 1960 – Ann (Mom) moved to Hawaii with Parents (exact date unknown)
Sept 1960 -- Ann started classes at U of Hawaii Oct 1960 -- Ann Impregnated by Obama Sr.
Feb 1961 -- Ann married Obama Sr. (Feb. 2, 1961) NO record of where Ann was for Six months here - On (or about) Aug 4, 1961, at age 18, Ann Dunham gave birth to Barack Obama. That is all we really know for sure. She either had him at Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children in Honolulu, Hawaii OR, Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii; OR ( and this is what my gut says is true) a Hospital in Mombasa Kenya. Obama’s Grandma and other relatives on his father’s side claim they were THERE when he was born.
Fall 1961 – Ann in classes in Seattle at University of Washington (Not Hawaii) Fall 1962 -- Anna not registered for classes at U of Washington Fall 1962 -- Obama Sr. begins school at Harvard,Mass.
Sept-Dec 1962 -- Anna moves back to Hawaii, with baby Obama Spring 1963 -- Ann resumes school back at University of Hawaii Jan 1964 -- Ann Dunham files for divorce in Hawaii Court
Mar 1964 -- Divorce is granted
In an official letter signed by Obama on White House stationery, the president celebrates his birth at the Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children in Honolulu, Hawaii. The facility has posted that letter on its website, along with video of the letter being read in public.
But… In 2004 the school paper where Obama’s Sister works listed his birthplace as Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu.
Perhaps most tellingly, one of Obama’s own campaign websites listed his birthplace at Queen’s Medical Center:
And as thrilling as all this is I have been of the opinion that it did not matter where he was born, even if it was in Africa, because his Mother was clearly a citizen. But…What are the implications of being legally- under age and married to a British subject? Especially if he was born in Africa. First the Kenyan Citizenship Question, Ann was under legal age (at the time it was 21), married to a Kenyan Citizen legally, and IF she had Obama on Kenyan soil it would have made him a citizen due to his father AND place of Birth (Under British Law), but Kenya does not recognize Dual Citizenship. And at any rate Barack has never lived there, so he likely was never officially granted Kenyan Citizenship.
Which brings us to his Hawaiian residency and eligibility to be even granted a Certificate of Live Birth in Hawaii. (assuming he was born elsewhere)
[§338-17.8] Upon application of an adult or the legal parents of a minor child, the director of health shall issue a birth certificate for such adult or minor, provided that proof has been submitted to the director of health that the legal parents of such individual while living without the Territory or State of Hawaii had declared the Territory or State of Hawaii as their legal residence for at least one year immediately preceding the birth or adoption of such child. (emphasis added)
Well, did Ann declare that Hawaii was her legal residence for One Year prior to his birth? Could she prove this? We know she was enrolled at the University of Washington (State) in FALL of 1961 Barry was born in August of that year. Could she have maintained residency in Hawaii for one full year while being enrolled in school In Seattle, and presumably flying to Kenya and elsewhere? One must assume she was living somewhere in Seattle, and maintaining residence there. It is possible to maintain dual residency, especially if one is in college. It still remains that we know she was in Seattle much of the time while Obama Jr was an infant
Then there is the while issue of him living in Indonesia.
Anne married an Indonesian named Lulo Soetoro and moved there. It is not clear whether Soetoro adopted Obama in Hawaii or in Indonesia, but there is strong circumstantial evidence that he did in fact adopt “Barry” as far as Indonesian law was concerned.
Living In Indonesia, in 1967, Obama had to take on the name of his stepfather in order to go to school, so under Indonesian Law he was adopted. . All Indonesian students were required to carry government identity cards which needed to bear the student's legal name, which should be matched in public school registration filings.
Would US law recognize and Indonesian adoption which would have conferred Indonesian Citizenship?
Then there is the question of his trip to Pakistan when he was in college. In 1981 Pakistan was not a very friendly place towards Americans and it would have been much easier to have entered that country through Indonesia using an Indonesian passport. Obama DID stop off in Indonesia prior to going to Pakistan, so that would lend credence to the theory. Indonesia also does not allow Dual Citizenship and so IF he used his Indonesian “identity” of Barry Soetoro and an Indonesian passport he would have had to renounce US citizenship as far as Indonesian Law was concerned.
Then we have the question of did he go to school as an Indonesian Student, or as an American Citizen when he returned to Hawaii, and later, the Mainland. We may never know because one of his first executive orders was to seal most of the documents that would let us find out.
So here are the questions: Is he a citizen of the U.S.? Most likely, Yes. WAS he a Natural Born Citizen of the U.S.? Again, Probably (due to Mom). Did his mother’s age affect his natural born status because she was married to a Kenyan National? I do not know and can not find a clear answer to the hypothetical question. Is he or was he recognized as a Citizen of Indonesia? Certainly as far as Indonesia was concerned Lulo Soetoro was at one point his adoptive father. Does U.S. law recognize the adoption as legal? I do not know. Is the Certificate of Live Birth (not a Birth Certificate) he has produced valid and legal? Most evidence would seem to suggest no. Did he go to Pakistan as an Indonesian Citizen? If he did, would he have had to renounce his U.S. citizenship? Who knows, he has taken as many steps as possible to make answering that question impossible. Did he go to Harvard as a Foreign Student (Barry Soetoro) or as an American (Barry Obama)? Again, we may never know.
Has he taken incredible pains to hide all of these facts when producing an actual long form birth certificate would clear the whole issue up? YES HE HAS. Does that pass the “smell test”? NO, not with me it doesn’t.
From what I have read I believe he was born in Kenya and when he was mere days or weeks old Ann jetted to Hawaii, got a Certificate of Live Birth (not a Birth Certificate) and jetted off to Seattle. I doubt she ever gave much thought to securing a Soc. Sec. Card for the little Tyke and at any rate when he was still just a Lad they moved to Indonesia where he was adopted by Soetoro. She got restless again and dumped him off and Grandma’s and then went to wherever. As he got older it would have been more difficult in college to have done things without clear citizenship and documentation so did whatever was necessary (sound familiar) and they rustled some up somewhere. He likely DID go to Pakistan and did whatever was necessary to make that happen (sound familiar?) and now that he is President this is really really inconvenient. The history of his life up until the time he was out of college never mentions a real job so his need for a Social Security card or other REAL proof of identity would not have been a big deal. Remember we are talking about the 70’s and 80’s it was not hard to make up identities then.
