I'm confused about this Cruz Citizenship thing

[bigdaddy45]

So I saw several years of complaints that Obama was born in Kenya. Lets assume he was. His mother is an American citizen; there isn't any dispute there. And, in the minds of those who believe he was born in Kenya, that means he's not eligible to be President.

Lets move to Ted Cruz. He was born in Canada. His father wasn't a US Citizen at the time of his birth. His mother was. So if Obama being born in Kenya supposedly matters, why does Cruz being born in Canada NOT matter?

[petercooper]

bttt

[discostu]

No. A person can be natural born to many many countries. It all depends on the rules set out by the country. If I’m running a country I could declare all blonds natural born citizens of my country. And then a blond born to American parents in America would be a natural born citizen of both America and Wigitland. Multi-citizenship can happen pretty easily if you have a complicated birthing situation (parents of 2 nationalities born in a 3rd place, throw in some revolutions and some Right to Return it can be a serious soup) or “qualify” under odd laws in other countries.

If one of your parents is American when you’re born you’re American. It’s not tough. The Birthers decided to try to over complicate the situation. But it’s pretty cut and dry. Obie qualifies, and so does Cruz. They might ALSO qualify for other countries, but that doesn’t matter.

[usurper]

Lets assume he was. His mother is an American citizen; there isn't any dispute there. And, in the minds of those who believe he was born in Kenya, that means he's not eligible to be President.

As an immigration agent of 25 years and law instructor I will explain:

At the time of his birth there were US residency requirements for mothers to bequest or pass on citizenship on their offspring born abroad.

If Obama was in fact born in another country his mom had not resided in the US long enough to bestow citizenship on him at the time of birth.

Ted Cruz's mother had the requisite time to bestow full citizenship on him at the time of birth.

[trisham]

Interesting. Thank you.

[philman_36]

As an immigration agent of 25 years and law instructor...

So in your opinion is Cruz a natural born citizen or a statutory citizen?

[petercooper]

But Obama was born in, ahem, Hawaii.

[bigdaddy45]

8 U.S. Code § 1401 implies otherwise:

(d) a person born outside of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents one of whom is a citizen of the United States who has been physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for a continuous period of one year prior to the birth of such person, and the other of whom is a national, but not a citizen of the United States;

I don’t know when it was passed into law, but I see no grandfather clause.

[4rcane]

There was several problems with Obama’s birth location and it was started by Obama himself. Prior to him going National, there was lots of inconsistency to his Birth Location made by media, his book publishers etc. My guess was that he actually lied during those times to get an advantage into university

Then there was his refusal to release his birth certificate and then when it was released years later, it was clearly a forgery, probably done by his supporter without his knowledge

[bigdaddy45]

Thanks. Thats very clear. So based on d), Cruz is a citizen. And so is Obama. So I guess we never have to hear from the birthers again. (call me skeptical).

[philman_36]

Obie qualifies, and so does Cruz.

But how do they qualify to be citizens?

[joe fonebone]

sorry..

that is EXACTLY the issue...

better luck next time

[philman_36]

So you think that a man made law that applies to ALIENS makes someone a natural born citizen?

Simply amazing!

[trisham]

I appreciate your response.

[joe fonebone]

i will rap with you anytime...:)

[Politicalkiddo]

Yeah. Ted Cruz, the man who has argued in front of the SCOTUS, is going to expose himself to ridicule for running when he isn’t eligible. If he knew he were ineligible, he wouldn’t run.

[trisham]

You bet. :)

[CA Conservative]

The issue with Obama was not that his mother wasn't an American citizen. It was that at that time, the law stated that a US citizen who was the parent of a child born outside of the US had to have lived in the US for a certain number of years after turning 18 and prior to the birth of the child in order for the child to be a US citizen by birth. Obama's mother did not meet the age requirement at the time of his birth, so if Obama was NOT born in Hawaii, he would not have been a US Citizen at birth according to that law (at least according to some legal opinions). But that only applies if he was born in Kenya.

With regard to Cruz, his mother had lived in the US the requisite number of years after reaching 18 before Ted was born. So even though he was born in Canada, he obtained US citizenship at birth through his mother.

Now there are some concern trolls here that are trying to argue that this does not constitute a "natural born citizen". But since the majority of constitutional lawyers that have opined on the matter have stated that Cruz is qualified, and since probably no one has standing to litigate the matter anyway, this is just a smokescreen thrown up by liberals and by supporters of other candidates to try to discourage people from supporting Ted.

[bigdaddy45]

So you don’t think Cruz is a NBC?

[trisham]

Thank you.

[bigdaddy45]

Evidently because the law says they do.