[yournamehere]

Natural born citizen issue. Which of his parents was Canadian? I can see Canada issuing a certificate of birth – that only makes sense. If my child was born in a foreign country while we are there working or visiting, that doesn’t change the fact that one or both or the child’s parents are American citizens.. Was there Canadian citizenship applied for by his parents that we don’t know about? Not from what I have been able to gather. A country cannot take a child and keep it as far as I know. Mom is an American citizen, and Dad was trying to gain citizen status in the US. I think this is a non-issue.

Cannot win national primary. Why not? Let him get his message on a national stage. He conveys the conservative message as eloquently as anyone I have ever heard. Let the other republicans address the issues he raises and discuss how best our current situation in this country should be handled. Is there a better voice for Capitalism and a Constitutional Republic? I honestly think this man can make the average American consider issues that most of us can agree on and the proper course of action needed. Hello moderates – wake up and listen.

Too extreme. What is extreme? Can we cite Obama’s stance on pretty much every issue since day 1? Can anyone name an issue Cruz is “extreme“ on? Most cite the government shutdown. Not popular, but I would like to use a phrase people on the opposite side of the fence politically speaking .. “Raising awareness” of government mismanagement. The budget is not sustainable! Embarrassing the establishment republicans by actually showing them a spine and a testicle or 2 exist in this party that is becoming embarrassing is a goos thing in my opinion,

Has no accomplishments to speak of. My favorite criticism of Ted Cruz because it makes me laugh and I think many moderates can gather around this one. WE DON’T WANT ANOTHER CAREER POLITICIAN IN THE WHITE HOUSE! Good night, the electorate voted in a 1st term Senator from Illinois that voted “Present” more often than not, and had NO experience or qualifications, and ran on “Hope and Change”. We can’t even find college records or an original birth certificate for this guy. We need ideas and plans to make things better, based on a PROVEN history that conservatism and capitalist methods WORK, not ESTABLISHMENT party members to “get along” and “work together, to pass a few hundred more” regulations to impose on the citizens in the name of making a name for your parasitic congress-person self..

Summary This is the 1st candidate that represents me since I began voting. No one speaks for me as well as Cruz does. The 1st time I voted, it was for Regan in 84. Let Ted’s ideas be heard on the most national stage we can get him to. Give people rational choices, and let common sense prevail. If we as a nation are not ready for change that benefits this nation as a whole, I will hold my nose and vote and vote for another Bush, Dole, W, McCain, Romney.. but Dear Lord, let’s give a Ted Cruz a shot!

Thanks guys – take care,

Ken

[yournamehere]

dang touchpad on laptop- didn;t get a chance to edit, but close enough ;)

[JennysCool]

Welcome back! You should spend more time around this joint! :)

[P-Marlowe]

Most of the vanity threads in the last day on Cruz have not ended well for the former freepers who posted them. This one appears to be an exception.

[ifinnegan]

“Which of his parents was Canadian?”

Neither.

[gunsequalfreedom]

Have we just heard from the Cruz campaign?

[Robert DeLong]

His father is Cuban
His mother is American

Ted was born in Canada

[GodGunsGuts]

You are not alone!

[svcw]

Listen dude or dudet, Cruz is a citzen by birth......good lord, his mother was a citizen.
Cruz is an unapologetic conservative, if that’s not enough don’t support him.

[Robert DeLong]

Can Ted Cruz run for president if he was born in Canada?

The Republican senator from Texas says he can. And just to be sure, he’s taking the extra step of renouncing the Canadian citizenship he says he didn’t even know he had.

Cruz -- full name: Rafael Edward Cruz --was born in Canada in 1970 because his father was working for the oil industry there. The senator’s recently released birth certificate shows his mother was born in Delaware and his father was born in Cuba. The Cruz family left Canada a few years later. Cruz grew up in Texas and graduated from high school there, later attending Princeton University and Harvard Law School.

By virtue of his American-born mother, Cruz, 42, considers himself a natural born citizen and eligible to run for president.

[keat]

IBTZ /s

[Robert DeLong]

Summary This is the 1st candidate that represents me since I began voting. No one speaks for me as well as Cruz does. The 1st time I voted, it was for Regan in 84

I hope you really meant: this is the 1st candidate that represents me since Reagan. Or did in fact Reagan not represent you?

[Theresawithanh]

Just like you, I haven’t been on FR in a good, long while; 2008, I think. I don’t know if anyone will even remember me. Decided to come back and take a peek, and amazingly, remembered my username and password.

I’m excited about Ted Cruz, I like what he’s said so far and I really like how he’s handled himself.

[Misterioso]

Gladly the Cruz you’d bear?

[trebb]

Good summary - eligible and ready to go. I am finally excited and hopeful again.

[Hostage]

> “Natural born citizen issue. Which of his parents was Canadian? I can see Canada issuing a certificate of birth – that only makes sense. If my child was born in a foreign country while we are there working or visiting, that doesn’t change the fact that one or both or the child’s parents are American citizens.. Was there Canadian citizenship applied for by his parents that we don’t know about? Not from what I have been able to gather. A country cannot take a child and keep it as far as I know. Mom is an American citizen, and Dad was trying to gain citizen status in the US. I think this is a non-issue.”

Ted Cruz never embraced his status as a Canadian citizen which was conferred on him at birth by simply being born on Canadian soil and never by request of his parents. To remove any doubt as to his allegiance to the United States he formally renounced his Canadian citizenship last year.

HISTORY

Madison settled the question more than 200 years ago. In that time if a child was born of an American citizen father with a ***domicile*** in the United States, the child was a natural born citizen. Now because of women’s suffrage and the 14th Amendment, the citizenship status of a child’s mother also confers citizenship as well as from the father.

An American’s wife at the time of Madison was not allowed the right to vote and was folded in with her husband in terms of nationality and culture. In other words it was the man and his ***domicile*** that determined whether natural born citizenship was conferred.

The term ‘domicile’ is distinct from ‘residence’ (more on this below).

When early Americans were sailing the seas or residing abroad, they were considered loyal to the United States if they maintained a ‘domicile’ INSIDE the United States. They could ‘reside’ abroad but maintain a ‘domicile’ inside the United States. For example, Thomas Jefferson resided in Paris as the US Ambassador while maintaining his ‘domicile’ in Virginia at Monticello.

The parents of Ted Cruz ‘resided’ in Canada for work purposes but kept their ‘domicile’ in the USA. The distinction is not trivial or trumped up. It’s a legal distinction that is on the books of many states in regards to marriage and divorce. For example, in New York, if one American and one European marry in Manhattan and then leave to live in Europe and later one of them returns to Manhattan and files for annulment of the marriage, the Court in Manhattan will have jurisdiction if the American maintained a ‘domicile’ (which is defined clearly in New York law) in New York during their time in Europe. Maintaining a domicile could be shown by simply maintaining a postal address for receiving postal mail.

The question came to Madison as to how to determine citizenship for children born at sea. This was not a rare event as many ocean voyages lasted weeks and months. Further, if an American and his family were stationed abroad such as employed in the Foreign Service like a consulate or embassy, then children born abroad of a citizen father were considered natural born.

The natural born requirement originated in correspondence and communication between John Jay and General George Washington. Jay was concerned that Presidents as Commanders-in-Chief would be capable of establishing a tyranny on the people using the Army. The proposal was to ensure ALLEGIANCE and LOYALTY by requiring children to be natural born meaning born to a citizen father and citizen mother. Dual citizenship was never an option in that era. Mothers were expected to fold in with their husbands as to allegiance, loyalty, citizenship, residence and domicile.

A mother needed not be a natural citizen or even a citizen at the time of her marriage to an American. As soon as she married a US citizen she automatically became a US citizen. Even if she was native Indian, German, English, French etc. she at once became a US citizen through marriage to a US Citizen. Dual citizenship was never an option and divorce was extremely rare so there wasn’t much confusion or conflict as to a married woman’s status.

In light of the 14th Amendment and its abuses, the US Supreme Court and Congress must weigh in at some point to clarify issues of ALLEGIANCE and LOYALTY which are the underlying issues of the term ‘natural born’.

We now have a President whose allegiance and loyalty are questioned. And we have a foreign born candidate whose allegiance and loyalty are above reproach. It’s time for our best jurists, historians and philosophers to work at shining a light in this current era of divorce, independence of women, dual citizenship, ease of migration, fast long distance travel and so on, to determine what eligibility criteria can ensure with high confidence the characteristics of ALLEGIANCE and LOYALTY in a President, how these criteria may define ‘natural born citizen’ and how to ensure these characteristics of ALLEGIANCE and LOYALTY are successfully transmitted across generations.

[Caipirabob]

Ted Cruz’s announcement has brought a new element of hope back into American politics. I had forgotten what that felt like after all these years...

[Yosemitest]

"Natural born citizen issue. "

Well, what does the law say?

The ABC’s of Immigration: Citizenship Rules for People Born Outside the United States

All persons born in the United States are citizens of the United States (with the very minor exception of certain children of diplomatic personnel).
This is perhaps the only simple rule of US citizenship.
One of the most complicated areas of US citizenship law involves the passage of citizenship to children born outside the US to one or more US citizen parents.
While naturalized US citizens are treated like natural born citizens,
which includes those who are deemed citizens even when born outside the US, in almost every respect,
there is one important office that only natural born citizens can hold –– the presidency
(though expect to see efforts in Congress to change this if Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger decides to run for President).
Also, a person who is a citizen from birth cannot be denaturalized (though denaturalization rarely ever occurs).

The rules determining when such children are citizens are extremely detailed,
and vary a great deal depending on when the child was born since the laws changed several times in the 20th century.

...

What are the rules for people born between December 23, 1952 and November 13, 1986?

Again, children born abroad to two US citizen parents were US citizens at birth, as long as one of the parents resided in the US at some point before the birth of the child.

When one parent was a US citizen and the other a foreign national,
the US citizen parent must have resided in the US for a total of 10 years prior to the birth of the child,
with five of the years after the age of 14.
An EXCEPTION FOR PEOPLE SERVING IN THE MILITARY was created
by considering time spent outside the US on military duty as time spent in the US.

While there were initially rules regarding what the child must do to retain citizenship,
amendments since 1952 have ELIMINATED these requirements.

Children born out of wedlock to a US citizen mother were US citizens
if the mother was resident in the US for a period of one year prior to the birth of the child.
Children born out of wedlock to a US citizen father acquired US citizenship
only if legitimated before turning 21.

So HOW does Ted Cruz's situation apply to this Law ?

Cruz was born on December 22, 1970 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada where his parents, Eleanor Elizabeth Darragh Wilson and Rafael Bienvenido Cruz.

Cruz's mother was born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware, in a family of three quarters Irish and one quarter Italian descent.
Eleanor Darragh, mother of Ted Cruz, was raised in Delaware, graduated from a Catholic High School (1952) in the U.S., as well as Rice University (1956), so clearly she meets the residency requirements.

Cruz's father, who was born in 1939 in Matanzas, Cuba, "suffered beatings and imprisonment for protesting the oppressive regime" of dictator Fulgencio Batista.

Source
... 74-Year-old Rafael Bienvenido Cruz:

"I came to this country legally," Cruz's father says.
"I came here with a legal visa, and ... every step of the way, I have been here legally."

In an interview near his home outside Dallas, the elder Cruz says that as a teenager, he fought alongside Fidel Castro's forces to overthrow Cuba's U.S.-backed dictator, Fulgencio Batista.
He was caught by Batista's forces, he says, and jailed and beaten before being released.
It was 1957, and Cruz decided to get out of Cuba by applying to the University of Texas.
Upon being admitted, he adds, he got a four-year student visa at the U.S. Consulate in Havana.

"Then the only other thing that I needed was an exit permit from the Batista government," Cruz recalls.
"A friend of the family, a lawyer friend of my father, basically bribed a Batista official to stamp my passport with an exit permit."

The Rafael Cruz that his son Ted portrays is a kind of Cuban Horatio Alger
— arriving in the U.S. with only $100, learning English on his own and washing dishes seven days a week for 50 cents an hour.

"Since he liked to eat seven days a week, he worked seven days a week, and he paid his way through the University of Texas," Ted Cruz says
of his father, "and then ended up getting a job and eventually going on to start a small business and to work towards the American dream."

Only he did that in Canada, where Ted was born.
His father went there after having earlier obtained political asylum in the U.S. when his student visa ran out.
He then got a green card, he says, and married Ted's mother, an American citizen.
The two of them moved to Canada to work in the oil industry.

"I worked in Canada for eight years," Rafael Cruz says. "And while I was in Canada, I became a Canadian citizen."

The elder Cruz says he renounced his Canadian citizenship when he finally became a U.S. citizen in 2005 —
48 years after leaving Cuba.
Why did he take so long to do it?
"I don't know. I guess laziness, or — I don't know," he says.

Peter Spiro, a legal expert on U.S. citizenship at Temple University, says Rafael Cruz followed "sort of a zigzag path to citizenship."
Spiro says Cruz's multicountry odyssey did not follow traditional models for immigration.