Ever since reading a first-hand account of a grade school student quietly thinking about how their teacher’s pronouncement that “any of you could become President!” was incorrect for that student, an immigrant, I have seen this clause as a bit excessive.
For example: Required to be a citizen and resident of the USA for the majority of his/her life (>50%). Required to renounce all other citizenship. Required to have spent the last 10 years of his/her life in the US.
Something like that seems fair(er) to me.
EDIT: Clarification.
1) be at least 35 years old
2) natural-born US citizen
3) have lived in the US for at least 14 years
One possible alternative would be to get rid of the 1st requirement, but to add another requirement of having to have lived in the US for a certain number of years as a child (under the age of 18), since we could agree that experience from growing up in the US is very important. Something along the lines of this...
1) be at least 35 years old
2) have lived in the US for at least 6 years as a child
3) have lived in the US for a total of 14 years
Also, do be aware it was created with people in the room who were aware of its consequences. Alexander Hamilton signed the document that made it law, and it prevented him from becoming President.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_Convention_%28Un...
I'll admit my analysis of this is only cursory, so feel free to correct my reasoning.
Obviously if these children just take advantage of the system, get a cheap(er) education and return to China, it's a net loss for the USA, but it seems to me that a great many would stay here, presumably as "productive citizens".
It worked out pretty well for him. He has since graduated with a top notch degree and sponsored his family to come to the U.S. Kudos to them for having the foresight to do this in the mid 80's.
Actually there IS debate about what that section actually means. Some take to mean in context that your parents had to have been under the laws (a citizen) already and subsequently you cannot just hop the border, have a baby, and the baby is a citizen. I happen to believe that as well.
Oops, left out the citation: US v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 US 649. http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=3381955771263111...
My grandmother was born in the US. Her mother died when she was young, so she and some of her siblings were sent back to the old country to live with relatives for a while. Eventually my grandmother and her siblings returned to the US, and she married my grandfather, leading to me, a proud American.
The reason this law was important was because my great-grandparents weren't US citizens. In fact, they were prohibited from becoming naturalized US citizens even if they wanted to be ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalization_Act_of_1790 ). Without the 14th amendment, I might not be a US citizen.
Nor would my great-uncle, who served in the US military. It turns out that in 1940 the US military suspected they had a need for Japanese translators. What better way to learn Japanese than to have gone to school in Japan?
My last thought on this topic is a joke:
Q: Who was the greatest German general of World War II?
A: Eisenhower.
