If it was not up for debate the news articles wouldn't be so plentiful.
however, where mccain was born, was actually *NOT* considered US soil.
"the Panama Canal Zone was not considered to be part of the United States"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural-born_citizen
this wiki specifically goes into Mccain.
very much up for legal debate.
however, where mccain was born, was actually *NOT* considered US soil.
"the Panama Canal Zone was not considered to be part of the United States"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural-born_citizen
this wiki specifically goes into Mccain.
federal law states that "Any person born in the Canal Zone on or after February 26, 1904, and whether before or after the effective date of this chapter, whose father or mother or both at the time of the birth of such person was or is a citizen of the United States, is declared to be a citizen of the United States".[6] The law that conferred this status took effect on August 4, 1937, one year after John McCain was born — albeit with retrospective effect, resulting in McCain being declared a U.S. citizen.
However, the question as to whether or not he is a citizen from birth cannot be answered by this law because (1) it took effect after his birth and (2) it does not state that the person's citizenship was acquired at birth, only that they are a citizen by means of the law's establishment (and, hence, at the time the law takes effect). Indeed, the law in 1936 stated that all persons born to US citizens outside the "limits and jurisdictions of the United States" but the problem is that the Panama Canal Zone was within the limits and jurisdictions of the United States. Thus, the status of Mr. McCain remains unsettled.
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