Viral Claim Questioning Kamala Harris’ Presidential Eligibility Is False

BOOM found that Harris meets the constitutional criteria for running for president of the US, and her parents' immigrant status does not affect her eligibility.

The caption of the claim, along with an image of Harris’ birth certificate states, “At the time of Kamala’s birth, her parents were not U.S. citizens, but foreign students. As the daughter of non- citizens; she is an anchor baby. She is not eligible to hold the office of President of the United States.”

Archive link.

After the first presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, questions about Biden’s fitness for another term have prompted Democrats to propose Harris as a potential replacement.

This has also revived an old false claim regarding Harris' eligibility to hold office, a claim that originally surfaced when she was the vice-presidential candidate in 2020.

Fact-check

According to Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the US Constitution, a person must meet the following criteria to be eligible for the presidency:

1. Be a natural-born citizen of the United States.

2. Be at least 35 years old.

3. Have been a resident within the United States for at least 14 years.

The term "natural-born citizen" generally refers to someone who is a citizen at birth and does not need to go through the naturalisation process, according to the Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute.

This includes individuals born on US soil, regardless of the citizenship status of their parents, as well as those born abroad to US citizen parents under certain conditions.

Vice President Harris meets these requirements. She was born on October 20, 1964, in Oakland, California, per her birth certificate. The birthplaces of her father and mother are mentioned as Jamaica and India, respectively. Her bio page on the White House’s website says the same.

Her bio also mentions that in 1990, she joined the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office as a prosecutor, marking over 30 years of service in public office.

Further, BOOM also looked at the American Immigration Council’s website, which states that the “children of legal and illegal immigrants born in the United States are U.S. citizens by virtue of the fact they are born on U.S. soil.”