Legal Question in Constitutional Law in Illinois

Re: presidential requirements

I'm afraid not. Article II, Section 1, clause 5 of the U.S. Constitution says "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."

You were not born in the U.S. and it sounds like your parents are not citizens, so even though you are now a citizen you were not "natural born" as one. This means you're out of luck. (Because the Constitution took effect in 1789, everyone who was "a citizen of the United States at the time of [its] adoption" has long since died.)

Your birthplace seems to be the only reason you aren't eligible, since you have lived in the U.S. for more than fourteen years and are at least 35 years old. Unfortunately, two out of three isn't enough.

You asked only about "existing laws." There are more than a few people -- many of whom want to see Arnold Schwarzenegger become President -- who want to remove this requirement; . Such a change would require a Constitutional Amendment, and that is not a trivial thing to accomplish. It could happen, though, so you may yet become eligible.