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The Republican senator gave up his dual citizenship months after first learning he was a Canadian citizen Texas Senator (and possible 2016 presidential hopeful) Ted Cruz has formally given up his Canadian citizenship, about nine months after learning he had it. While at home in Houston on Tuesday, Cruz was notified by mail that the renunciation became official on May 14, The Dallas Morning News reports. “He’s pleased to receive the notification and glad to have this process finalized,” spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said. Cruz intended to give up his Canadian citizenship, which was not a secret, after The Dallas Morning...

BETHESDA, Md., April 8, 2016/PRNewswire/ — Ted Cruz risks primary disqualification in New Jersey resulting from charges of ballot access fraud. A primary ballot disqualification hearing is scheduled by the Secretary of State for Monday, April 11 at 9:00 a.m. in Mercerville, New Jersey. Washington D.C. Law Professor Victor Williams charges that Ted Cruz fraudulently certified his constitutional eligibility for office to gain ballot access. Williams demands that Cruz be disqualified from several late-primary ballots: “Cruz committed ballot access fraud in each state when he falsely swore that he was a ‘natural born’ American citizen.” Cruz was born in Calgary,...

With all of the non-stop coverage of the 2016 presidential election, have you noticed as of late that Donald Trump has not said a peep about Ted Cruz not being eligible for the presidency? Earlier this year, Trump questioned whether Cruz was a natural born citizen because he was born in Calgary, Canada (to a U.S. citizen mother). Trump asserted this very question would be caught up in the court for years. Much editorial space was spent on major newspaper and TV networks discussing this issue. Many legal scholars even agreed that Trump may have a case against Cruz. This...

Not along ago, Illinois pharmacist and attorney Lawrence Joyce began to realize his country and his political party were facing what he considered to be a nightmare. Concerns about the eligibility for the presidency of Republican candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas, who was born in Canada to a Cuban father and an American mother, were raised by rival Donald Trump. Though they may at first have seemed laughable, the legal case against Cruz was one Joyce, a Ben Carson supporter, thought he understood. The Constitution requires the president to be a "natural born" citizen of the United States, and as...

The problem: the meaning of "natural-born citizen" Here is what the Constitution says about who can be president: 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. The problem is the Constitution doesn't define "natural born Citizen." Neither does any current law. And no one has...

Supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the eligibility of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) to run for president. The suit, filed in federal court in Alabama, alleges that Cruz is not a "natural born citizen" of the United States, and should therefore be disqualified from seeking the office of president. Cruz was born in Canada in 1970 to an American mother. The plaintiffs, Sebastian Green, Shannon Duncan, Kathryn Spears, Kyle Spears and Jerry Parker, are all residents of Cullman County and supporters of Cruz's opponent, Donald Trump, according to AL.com....

Lawrence Sellin, Ph.D. a retired colonel with 29 years of experience in the US Army Reserve, argues that Senator Ted Cruz entered the United States illegally as a child in 1974. His parents failed to file a CRBA form which is required by US law. Ted’s parents did not fill out the required form until 1986.

Donald Trump on Friday threatened to sue Ted Cruz for "not being a natural born citizen" if the Texas senator "doesn't clean up his act" and stop running negative ads against him. "If @TedCruz doesn't clean up his act, stop cheating, & doing negative ads, I have standing to sue him for not being a natural born citizen," he tweeted. If @TedCruz doesn't clean up his act, stop cheating, & doing negative ads, I have standing to sue him for not being a natural born citizen. -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 12, 2016 Trump has previously argued that if...

Donald Trump supporters have filed a lawsuit challenging the eligibility of one of his primary rivals, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), to run for president. The lawsuit, filed Feb. 3 at a district court in Alabama, seeks a judgment "declaring that Rafael Edward Cruz is ineligible to qualify/run/seek and be elected to the Office of the President of the United States of America" due to his Canadian birth. Cruz was born in Calgary, Canada, to an American mother. The five plaintiffs — Sebastian Green, Shannon Duncan, Kathryn Spears, Kyle Spears and Jerry Parker — are all backing Trump in the Republican...

With Ted Cruz the victor of the first contest of the GOP nominating calendar, we can no longer avoid the question mischievously posed by Donald Trump: Is Cruz ineligible to be president? Cruz was born in Canada to an American mother and a Cuban father. The Constitution says that only a “natural born citizen” can be president. Is Cruz a natural born citizen? (You may recall that before he attacked Cruz on this front, Trump spent months flogging a ludicrous version of this critique against President Obama, who was actually born in the United States, unlike Cruz.) The words natural...

Those who think Sen. Ted Cruz can be elected to a job he isn’t eligible for are ignoring the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. If Republicans make the mistake of nominating Cruz for President of the United States, Democrats in California and other states will challenge his eligibility. There’s at least a 90% probability the 9th Circuit Court in San Francisco would rule him ineligible because he is a naturalized citizen rather than a “natural born citizen” as required by the Constitution.

After many years of debate, the meaning of "natural born citizen" remains unsettled. During last week's Republican presidential debate, Ted Cruz said it's "really quite clear" he is eligible to run for president even though he was born in Canada, because his mother was a U.S. citizen. His rival Donald Trump insisted "there is a serious question" as to whether Cruz qualifies as "a natural born citizen," one of the constitutional requirements for the presidency. Here is a sentence I never thought I'd type: Donald Trump is right. Cruz describes a consensus that does not exist. The Texas senator is...

Some folks, including Don Trump, think Senator Cruz is not entitled to run for president because he is not a "natural born" citizen. This matter was debated when John McCain ran for the office, yet it seems that the correct answers are still not generally appreciated. So... ...is Senator Ted Cruz qualified to be president? Yes, because the 1790 Immigration Act declares flatly that people in his circumstances are "natural-born" citizens. That law followed the adoption of the constitution by about two years, and some of the founding fathers of the nation were in the Congress at the time. One...

The past eight or so years should have proven conclusively that the various strains of birthers out there do not know about which they speak. Nevertheless, this has not stopped them from continuing in their ways. The latest speculation I've seen surrounds the Naturalization Act of 1790 passed by the First Congress. Here is the relevant portion: And the children of citizens of the United States, that may be born beyond sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born citizens: Provided, That the right of citizenship shall not descend to persons whose...

Harvard law professor Lawrence Tribe’s view of the Constitution and the “natural born” citizen issue seems to blow with the political winds.  Why has his view completely switched from 2008?  Is it because, as Sen. Ted Cruz said at the Republican debate on Jan. 14, Tribe is a “left-wing judicial activist” and “a major Hillary Clinton supporter?”  Whatever the reason, Tribe’s current assertions about the issue are wrong and Donald Trump may want to think twice before he again cites Tribe as an “expert”.In a prior article, I explained the legal interpretation of the requirement in Article II, Sec. 1...

While the nation's legal scholars differ over the exact meaning of the Constitution's requirement that a person must be a "natural born citizen" to become president, they're unanimous in saying Ted Cruz is wrong about an important point. "As a legal matter, the question is quite straightforward and settled law," Cruz has said. "People will continue to make political noise about it, but as a legal matter it is quite straightforward." In fact, the experts say, it is neither settled nor straightforward. It's not settled — because the Constitution does not define "natural born," a phrase that appears in the...

Time Magazine called this the “your mama” response in presidential political debates. Since the entire eligibility issue for Ted Cruz hinges on his mother’s status as a natural-born citizen of the US (thereby making him one despite his birth in Canada), Cruz’ pushback against Trump seems appropriate — if a bit of a reach. Cruz obviously prepared for this moment, and delivered his attack with considerable flair and relish:Donald Trump Vs. Ted Cruz over Natural Born Citizen Issue - 6th GOP Debate (Video) Trump, the bombastic billionaire, remains atop the polls nationally but locked in a tight race with Cruz...

A leftover from Sunday that I missed yesterday. If you’re going to stand on the Senate floor and call the majority leader a liar and a crony, I guess you shouldn’t be surprised when he won’t do you a favor.Although … this is sort of a favor to Cruz, isn’t it? Every time he gets to tell his fans that it’s McCain or McConnell who’s behind the attacks on eligibility rather than Trump, it makes it easier for populist voters to dismiss them out of hand. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says the upper chamber won't issue a...

Birth of U.S. Citizens Abroad A child born abroad to a U.S. citizen parent or parents may acquire U.S. citizenship at birth if certain statutory requirements are met. The child’s parents should contact the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate to apply for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States of America (CRBA) to document that the child is a U.S. citizen. If the U.S. embassy or consulate determines that the child acquired U.S. citizenship at birth, a consular officer will approve the CRBA application and the Department of State will issue a CRBA, also...

It's hard to see this as anything but pure spite towards Cruz, of which there's plenty in Paulworld, for surpassing him as the "conservatarian" choice in the primary. In theory, I guess, raising enough doubt about Cruz's eligibility could cause some libertarians and "constitutionalists" to run away from Cruz and back to Paul, but how much is that worth to Paul? Five percent, maybe? He goes from an also-ran in the low single-digits to an also-ran in the high single-digits while potentially tipping the race to in Iowa to Trump, the least libertarian candidate in the race. And meanwhile Paul...