The phrase “natural born citizen” is commonly used in the United States. However, there has been a wide range of controversies and debates regarding its validity. One of the constitutional requirements for one to contest for presidency in the United States is that he or she should be a “natural born citizen.” In other words, a person like Representative Jim Himes who is born outside the country by parents who are American citizens is automatically denied the chance to contest for the top political seat in the country because he or she is not a “natural born citizen” (Hulse, 2016). The core purpose of this paper is to provide an interactive platform for demonstrating ambiguity in the phrase “natural born citizen.”
Ambiguity refers to a type of resolution, statement, or phrase that is not defined explicitly thereby making many interpretations plausible. According to Browne and Keeley (2007), most political languages are highly ambiguous and loaded (Browne & Keeley, 2007). A “natural born citizen” can be defined as an individual who became an American citizen by birth without being necessarily required to go through naturalization proceeding to the later stages of life. It refers to a person who is born on a verifiable American soil and to certified American parents (Hulse, 2016). However, the ambiguity of the phrase comes in when a person is born outside the country by certified American parents who could be on diplomatic duties serving their country. It is unreasonable not to consider such an individual as “natural born citizen” just because he or she was born by accident outside the country. Even more, the extent of treating such a person as a lesser person than his or her immediate neighbor who was born in the country by parents who not Americans by birth is highly unjustifiable. The Supreme Court has failed to provide explicit interpretation of the clunky clause “natural born citizen” citizen creating room for a wide range of discussions on the nonsensicality of the entire argument. The term “natural born citizen” was crafted when people rarely travelled more than a few miles from where they were born and at a time when it took several months for people to cross oceans (Hulse, 2016). The founders must have crafted the clause to prevent the immigrants from contesting for presidency. However, the applicability of the phrase is not justifiable today. In fact, many people have come forward challenging the clause because it does not have constitutional interpretation. One of the reasons why the founding fathers of the country came up with the phrase in the first place was to prevent the possibility of leaving the country to the hands of people who are not American citizens by birth. However, things have changed significantly over the recent years with effective policy measures being implemented to address the issue of immigration. Many great politicians including President Barack Obama have come under scrutiny on the subject of “natural born citizen” (Hulse, 2016). Politicians like President Donald Trump have been using their interpretations of the clause to rule out other competitive contestants that could compromise their chances of winning which should not be the case.
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"Ambiguity on phrase “Natural Born Citizen”".
To sum up, it is evident that the phrase “natural born citizen” is ambiguous. The clause was crated at the time when people barely travelled several miles from their places of birth. The phrase is ambiguous because its interpretations are nonsensical. For instance, there is no special consideration for people who are born to certified American parents who might be serving their diplomatic duties in other countries. Lastly, the Supreme Court is yet to intervene and offer a clear interpretation to the clause because it could create further legal and political riff in the country.
- Browne, M. N., & Keeley, S. M. (2007). Asking the right questions: A guide to critical thinking. Pearson Education. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/download/38866955/asking_the_right_questions.pdf
- Hulse, C. (2016). It May Be Time to Resolve the Meaning of ‘Natural Born.’ The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/19/us/politics/it-may-be-time-to-resolve-the-meaning-of-natural-born.html
