Wong was born in the US to Chinese nationals who had since returned to China.
The case was about whether the Chinese exclusion act applied.
There is no relevance here to Cruz for some extraneous dicta that frankly support both sides of this argument.
The case was about whether the Chinese exclusion act applied.
The case was a simple citizenship argument and of the application a California law against a Citizen.
Both of Wong parents were Chinese and on top of that neither made any attempt to naturalize in the US so their allegiances were to China and remained so.
Cruz's mother is, was, continues to be a American, and a natural born. There is no argument there.
When a American travels, for any reason other that government related as a US citizen, do they somehow leave all that at the border?
Of course not.
So, did his Mothers allegiances change while she was in Canada?
NO, She did not apply for citizenship. So the intent was always to return. Was it not?
Would we be having this argument i8f she had remained in the US and Ted's father had come to her in the US...?
NO! We would not be..
So In my mind, this part of the argument is finished..She had her natural born status intact at the time Ted was born.
So we are no left with one single issue. Can the status of natural born be transmitted from parent to new born regardless of the location situation they mat find themselves in at time of birth, assuming the natural born status is still intact by being a subject or citizen even though far away from home.
Wong has nothing at all to do with this and thus is not a stare decisis issue.
But it defines citizenship and, on multiple accounts, defines and explains natural born citizenship which is what this is all about. We can all agree that Cruz was a dual citizen. the question remains however, was he a natural born citizen. The opinions expressed in Wong are pretty clear that he isn’t. People wish to think that a NBC is someone who is simply “a citizen at birth” but that is not the opinion that has been expressed in Wong.