Claim:
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris' mother, Shyamala Harris, lied about how many children she had on an immigration form, so Kamala Harris is ineligible to be president.
Rating:
False ( About this rating? )
Context:
Shyamala Harris did not lie on the form — her application was filed before the birth of her second daughter. The point is moot, however, as the validity of Shyamala's paperwork wouldn't have affected Kamala Harris' ability to run for president.
On Aug. 25, 2024, race-baiting conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer asserted on X ( archived ) that "recently obtained" documents cast doubt on the constitutionality of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris' run for U.S. president:
Recently obtained immigration documents obtained by @LoomerUnleashed referencing Shyamala Gopalan Harris, the mother of Vice President @KamalaHarris , reveal serious issues that may lead to Kamala Harris's disqualification as a presidential candidate.
As per a document from the United States Department of Justice Immigration and Naturalization Service form I-463, dated August 21, 1967, Shyamala Gopalan Harris claimed to have only one child even though both of her children were born by this time. This discovery was just uncovered by @LauraLoomer and @CcpSkipTracer .
Take note of the following birthdates: Kamala Devi Harris was supposedly born on October 20, 1964. Kamala's younger sister, Maya Lakshmi Harris was born January 30, 1967.
Why did Shyamala lie on official immigrations forms and say she only had one child if she had two? Did Kamala Harris's mother, who she made the focus of her DNC Convention Presidential nomination acceptance speech, commit immigration fraud?
The post was shared alongside this image, highlighting the date August 21,1967, and the declaration that she had one child:
Nothing outside of the birth dates listed in Loomer's post was true. Loomer did not respond via direct message on X to Snopes' request for comment.
The document was not new — it's part of a 154-page PDF containing a redacted copy of immigration files associated with Shyamala Harris that was released in 2020. The entire file is readily available for any member of the public to view, and it is hosted on the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service website.
The other pages contained within this file make it clear that Aug. 21, 1967, denotes the date on which the government approved a petition from Shyamala Harris to remain employed in the United States as a noncitizen worker. Her application was filed on Jan. 17, 1967. Maya Harris was not born for 13 more days, so she accurately reported having only one child.
This is not the first time Snopes has dealt with poorly reasoned claims that Harris is ineligible to serve as U.S. president based on some allegation concerning the immigration status of her parents. Any such claim based on her parents is false, as Harris was born in the United States. She is therefore — unambiguously — a citizen of the United States.
The constitutional requirements for the office of U.S. president are few. As stated in Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution, they encompass only citizenship, residency and age:
No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a resident within the United States.
Harris is a natural-born citizen of the United States, she is older than 35 and she has been a resident for well over 14 years. She is constitutionally eligible to serve as president regardless of what her mother put on an immigration form in 1967 (and, in this case, the number of children on the form was accurate when it was filled out). As such, the claim is "False."
Sources:
"Article II." LII / Legal Information Institute, https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articleii . Accessed 27 Aug. 2024.
"Desperate Right Winger Tries to Bring Back Birtherism." The New Republic. The New Republic, https://newrepublic.com/post/185293/laura-loomer-kamala-harris-birtherism . Accessed 27 Aug. 2024.
Haberman, Maggie, and Jonathan Swan. "Trump Wanted to Hire Laura Loomer, Anti-Muslim Activist." The New York Times, 7 Apr. 2023. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/07/us/politics/trump-laura-loomer.html .
Ibrahim, Nur. "Yes, Harris Can Run for US President Even Though Her Parents Are Foreign-Born." Snopes, 22 July 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/harris-presidential-campaign-foreign-born-parents/ .
Kasprak, Alex. "Is Kamala Harris Not Eligible to Serve as U.S. President?" Snopes, 22 Jan. 2019, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/kamala-harris-eligibility/.
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