Obama's Job Approval 16% Among Birthers

[minionofmidas]

Such as, they think it means - or  even can be interpreted to mean - "born in the USA". It doesn't. It's a clear-as-daylight phrase that means "is a citizen by birthright", ie the opposite of a naturalized citizen.

[minionofmidas]

That assumes that a person cannot be granted naturalized citizenship at birth. 

It doesn't assume any such thing... it just assumes that that's not what's currently done in the case of born-abroad children of Americans.
[/quote]Picky reading of 14th Amendment[/quote]"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." Doesn't say nobody else is (or can be) a citizen of the United States.

Although one wonders why they felt the need to point out that naturalized citizens are citizens - maybe just clarifying that one state's naturalizations are valid in every other state as well?

(But note that the natural-born rights of Americans born abroad - that is, those of future ones - are not constitutionally protected. Congress could just change the relevant acts.)

[minionofmidas]

... one wonders why they felt the need to point out that naturalized citizens are citizens - maybe just clarifying that one state's naturalizations are valid in every other state as well?

No.  Naturalization was already a Section 8 power of Congress, and worded so that States didn't get involved in the process.  Rather the mention of naturalized citizens is a reaction to the Dred Scott decision which held that State citizenship and United States citizenship need not be equivalent. They are included so as to make it clear that for a resident of a State, one cannot hold only one of those citizenships.
[/quote]Basically what I meant, though.
Though maybe I ought to have mentioned the concept of individual state citizenship to make it clearer.