Posted on 03/20/2016 11:46:56 AM PDT by conservativejoy
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 weekend, it occurred to me, this issue has faded from the public eye. The major media outlets stopped talking about it (maybe because Trump has moved on to other things.) But, it remains an important and largely unresolved question. So, I decided to look through some of the filings in the lawsuits filed against Cruz, and discovered an opinion from a Pennsylvania Senior Judge Dan Pellegrini that gives an absolute smack down to all of these Ted Cruz birther claims. Judge Pellegrini in his 22 page memorandum opinion found that Ted Cruz was a natural born citizen thereby ruling that Cruz’s name can appear on the Republican primary ballot in Pennsylvania on April 26, 2016. Why this particular opinion piqued my interest is that it is the first I have seen anywhere that actually tackles the Constitutional questions surrounding Cruz’s eligibility. For example, cases in Utah and Florida, were recently dismissed on procedural technicalities (like standing). What is even more shocking - the opinion was issued last week - and I couldn't find any major network or newspaper covering it. (WSJ had a short blog post, and a few local newspapers covered it in PA). You would think that on the heels of such extensive coverage of the issue earlier this year, that the media would jump all over the first major opinion to addresses these important Constitutional questions that Trump brought up during the campaign. I guess, that's wishful thinking, but I will go through the opinion, anyway, as I think its illustrative of what will be found if/when this question is appealed to an even higher court, perhaps even the U.S. Supreme Court.
The heart of the question stems from Article II, Section I, of the U.S. Constitution which requires that a President be a "natural born" citizen. The challenge was filed by Carmon Elliot, a registered Republican in Pennsylvania. Elliot claimed Cruz should not be allowed to appear in the ballot because he is not a "natural born citizen."
Firstly, Cruz's attorneys argued that the Court should not address this issue at all because it is a "political question" that should not be addressed by the Judiciary. The judge found "no Constitutional provision places such power in Congress to determine Presidential eligibility." Bottom line (and this is important), the judge found that the courts can move forward with deciding the case.
So how did Judge Pellegrino of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania arrive at his decision that Cruz was eligible?
The judge relies on several pieces on legal scholarship. First, a memo produced in 1968 by Charles Gordon, then the General Counsel of the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, which says: "The Framers were well aware of the need to assure full citizenship rights to the children born to American citizens in foreign countries." He also points out a 2011 Congressional Research Service Memo entitled the "Qualification for President and the ‘Natural Born’ Citizenship Eligibility Requirement." The document concludes:
"The weight of legal and historical authority indicated that the term 'natural born' citizen would mean a person, who is entitled to U.S. citizenship 'by birth' or 'at birth' either by being born 'in' the United States and under its jurisdiction, even those born to alien parents; by being born abroad to U.S. citizen-parents."
Then the judge spends four pages quoting from the recent work of Paul Clement & Neal Katyal in the Harvard Law Review, in which the two Constitutional scholars (from different sides of the political aisle) conclude that "as Congress has recognized since the Founding, a person born abroad to a U.S. citizen parent is generally a U.S. citizen from birth with no need for naturalization. And the phrase 'natural born citizen' in the Constitution encompasses all such citizens from birth."
In his conclusion, the Judge states:
Having extensively reviewed all articles cited in the opinion, as well as many others, this Court holds, consistent with the common law precedent and statutory history, that a "natural born citizen" included any person who is a United States citizen from birth.Accordingly, because he was a citizen of the United States from birth, Ted Cruz is eligible to serve as President of the United States..
The judge's decision is ripe for a higher court review, but it is significant nonetheless. As election law expert Dan Tokaji points out in the Election Law Blog this case could ultimately be headed for the U.S. Supreme Court.
"A state court ruling would be helpful, but only a Supreme Court ruling could dispel the uncertainty surrounding its meaning. The good news is that review of a state court decision on Cruz's eligibility could be sought in the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court’s jurisdiction to review federal law questions is broader than that of lower federal courts," he wrote.
So perhaps, one thing Trump said is correct that this question could end being caught up in the courts for some time. The petitioner, Mr. Elliot, already said he plans to appeal the Judge’s decision.
Yes. Some seem to be missing this point.
Here I sort of disagree. It's meaning was the axiomatic extension of the "natural law" foundation of the nation.
As the nation was founded on "natural law", the meaning of "natural citizen" derives from that body of philosophical work.
“Why hasn’t Cruz brought this up?”
Because no matter how he spins it, he was BORN IN CANADA, NOT on US Soil. I don’t care, and most don’t care if he’s ‘legally NBC’ or not....he was born on foreign soil to at least one foreign national.
I looked at the link you gave and noticed an error right off.
"The phrase is derived from English common law, and the Supreme Court requires examination of that law to ascertain the phrase’s definition."
No it isn't.
With such a glaring and serious error, should I bother to read further?
No it wasn't. I know. I've looked.
Well here's your chance. Put forth your argument.
Ted Cruz Citizenship Timeline
.
March 26, 2015
Cruz Citizenship Timeline (documented)
State of Delaware Vital Records says, no record of Eleanor Elizabeth Darragh Wilson birth exist. Ted Cruz’s mother does not have a US birth certificate.
FACTUAL CRUZ CITIZENSHIP TIMELINE
(Everything presented in this timeline is a matter of public record. All of it is based upon publicly reported events, public statements made by Rafael Cruz, Ted Cruz, officials with the Elect Ted movement or US and Canadian officials.”
1957 - After working as a teen to help Fidel Castro gain power in Cuba, and being imprisoned for his actions by the Batista regime, Cuban Rafael Cruz applies for admittance to the University of Te’as as a foreign student and enters the US on a four year student visa to attend four years of college. He is a Cuban citizen attending a US college on a foreign student visa obtained through the US Consulate in Havana.
1961-1962 - After graduating college at the University of Texas, and upon the expiration of his foreign student visa, Cruz Sr. applied for and received “political asylum” and was issued a “green card.” A green card is a permit to reside and work in the United States, without becoming a “citizen” of the United States, in this case, under political asylum from Castro’s Cuba. His citizenship status was that of a Cuban national living and working in the United States, under a green card work permit. According to US laws, the “green card” holder must maintain permanent resident status, and can be removed from the United States if certain conditions of this status are not met.
1964-1966 - Cruz Sr. takes a few odd jobs, marries and moves to Canada to work in the oil fields. The Cruz family resides in Canada for the next eight years. “I worked in Canada for eight years,” Rafael Cruz says. “And while I was in Canada, I became a Canadian citizen.” – (From and interview with NPR) “Peter Spiro, a legal expert on US citizenship at Temple University. Spiro says Rafael Cruz’s multi-country odyssey did not follow traditional models for immigration. SPIRO - “Ted Cruz himself seems to be an advocate of those traditional immigration models. Maybe he should be a little more tolerant of the nontraditional Versions, given his own father’s history.”
1970 - Ted Cruz is born in Canada, to two parents who had lived in Canada for at least four years at that time, and had applied for and received Canadian citizenship under Canadian Immigration and Naturalization Laws, as stated by Rafael Cruz. As a result, US statutes would have voided the prior “green card” status which requires among other things, permanent residency within the United States and obviously, not becoming a citizen of another country during the time frame of the US green card.
1974 - The Cruz family moves to the United States when Ted is approximately four years old. Rafael Cruz has publicly stated that he remained a citizen of Canada until he renounced his Canadian citizenship when he applied for and became a US Naturalized citizen in 2005. As a result, his wife and son were also Canadian citizens, his son being born a citizen of Canada in 1970.
2005 - Rafael Cruz applies for legal US citizenship and renounces his Canadian citizenship. No record of Ted renouncing his Canadian citizenship or applying for US citizenship exists as of 2005.
2013 - Freshman Senator Ted Cruz is a rising star in the Tea Party movement, and calls for him to run for the White House begin. In July, Ted Cruz is Questioned by the press about his interest in running for President, and the issue of his Canadian born citizenship is brought up Sen. Ted Cruz rejected questions Sunday over his eligibility to be president, saying that although he was born in Canada “the facts are clear” that he is a US citizen.
“My mother was born in Wilmington, Delaware. She is a US. citizen, so I’m a US citizen by birth,” Cruz told A&C. “I’m not going to engage in a legal debate.”
NOTE: Senator Cruz omits the part of his father’s story, in particular, the part about his parents applying for and receiving Canadian citizenship prior to Ted’s birth in Calgary. He also attempts to gloss past the actual definition of natural)born Citizen by implying it is a mere legal debate for others to figure out.
August 2013 - As Ted’s political stock rises in the Tea Party, so do press questions about his eligibility for office. Ted decides to quiet the questions by releasing his birth certificate, which now becomes absolute proof of Ted’s Canadian citizenship at birth, 1970, Calgary, Canada. The release of the Canadian birth records only serve to further fuel the controversy.
Ted seeks Legal Counsel, as the media is now pressing members of Canadian Immigration and Naturalization to clear the matter up, when instead, Canadian officials confirm the Ted Cruz was in fact born a legal citizen of Canada, the son of two parents who had also applied for and received Canadian citizenship prior to Ted’s birth.
“He’s a Canadian,” said Toronto lawyer Stephen Green, past chairman of the Canadian Bar Association’s Citizenship and Immigration Section.
“Generally speaking, under the Citizenship Act of 1947, those born in Canada were automatically citizens at birth unless their parent was a foreign diplomat, ”said ministry spokeswoman Julie Lafortune.
Legal counsel advises Ted to “renounce his Canadian citizenship” in order to make himself eligible to run for the presidency. Of course, renouncing one’s original citizenship only further proves one’s original citizenship.
May 2014 - Ted Cruz legal counsel files to renounce Ted’s Canadian citizenship in an effort to make him eligible to run for high office under the natural born Citizen clause Article II in the US Constitution.
AUSTIN, Texas - Canada-born US Sen. Ted Cruz has given up his citizenship from his birth country, making good on a promise from last summer. spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said “the Tea Party favorite formally gave up his citizenship May 14th. He received official confirmation of the action at his Houston home Tuesday.”
News that he had renounced his citizenship was first reported by the Dallas Morning News. The newspaper also bro$e that Cruz had dual Canadian) US citizenship when he released his birth certificate in August.
Frazier said Cruz “he is pleased to have the process finalized” and that it “makes sense he should be only an American citizen.”- of course, the Constitution does not require that one be only an American citizen, but rather a natural born Citizen.
As of February 4, 2015 - No evidence of any US Citizenship has been released to confirm anything at all about the true citizenship status of Ted Cruz.
Because Ted Cruz has been confirmed a legal citizen of Canada up until renouncing his Canadian citizenship in May of 2014, and because he has been confirmed a citizen of Canada at birth, and because his father is on public record stating that he and his wife became citizens of Canada during their eight years living in Canada and because Rafael Cruz remained a citizen of Canada until he renounced and applied for legal US citizenship in 2005. There is simply NO WAY that Ted Cruz was, is or ever can be a Natural Born Citizen of the United States eligible for the offices of President or Vice President.
So, does this mean that members of the Tea Party are engaged in an overt effort to defraud Tea Party members who are Ted fans, by all of this legal fancy foot work.
The facts are all well documented. You decide...
One who inherits their Citizenship at birth via nature alone, from their natural birth father, is a natural born Citizen of the United States. According to all available information on Ted Cruz and his family, Ted Cruz was a native born citizen of Canada and not a natural born Citizen of the United States. Now, Ted is either not too bright, or not too honest... But he is at least one of the two... and what about the Tea Party leaders behind this legal shell game?
State of Delaware vital records says, no record of Eleanor Elizabeth Darragh Wilson Cruz exist. Ted Cruz’s mother does not have a US birth certificate.
Ted Cruz Citizenship Timeline
State of Delaware Vital Records says, no record of Eleanor Elizabeth Darragh Wilson Cruz birth exist. Ted Cruz’s mother does not have a US birth certificate.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/anna-tomerlin/ted-cruz-citizenship-timeline/815852778451290
This is not just an article, this is a ruling by a federal court judge.
Nothing has changed. Cruz has always been a natural born citizen, a status that does not change. He has always said he was an NBC.
Perhaps you should read the entire opinion at the link. The judge did use law and case precedent.
In all fairness, Cruz didn’t bring up that Carson was leaving Iowa. CNN did this the night of the caucus. Cruz’s campaign repeated the claim.
But Cruz is a liar I tell you. A liar. Trump doubled down yesterday and is still bringing it up.
You and the rest of the Trump supporters can stuff “in all fairness” cause your guy is the worst of the bunch.
5 Notifications
Cruz Citizenship Timeline (documented)
State of Delaware Vital Records says, no record of Eleanor Elizabeth Darragh Wilson birth exist. Ted Cruz’s mother does not have a US birth certificate.
FACTUAL CRUZ CITIZENSHIP TIMELINE
(Everything presented in this timeline is a matter of public record. All of it is based upon publicly reported events, public statements made by Rafael Cruz, Ted Cruz, officials with the Elect Ted movement or US and Canadian officials.”
1957 - After working as a teen to help Fidel Castro gain power in Cuba, and being imprisoned for his actions by the Batista regime, Cuban Rafael Cruz applies for admittance to the University of Te’as as a foreign student and enters the US on a four year student visa to attend four years of college. He is a Cuban citizen attending a US college on a foreign student visa obtained through the US Consulate in Havana.
1961-1962 - After graduating college at the University of Texas, and upon the expiration of his foreign student visa, Cruz Sr. applied for and received “political asylum” and was issued a “green card.” A green card is a permit to reside and work in the United States, without becoming a “citizen” of the United States, in this case, under political asylum from Castro’s Cuba. His citizenship status was that of a Cuban national living and working in the United States, under a green card work permit. According to US laws, the “green card” holder must maintain permanent resident status, and can be removed from the United States if certain conditions of this status are not met.
1964-1966 - Cruz Sr. takes a few odd jobs, marries and moves to Canada to work in the oil fields. The Cruz family resides in Canada for the next eight years. “I worked in Canada for eight years,” Rafael Cruz says. “And while I was in Canada, I became a Canadian citizen.” – (From and interview with NPR) “Peter Spiro, a legal expert on US citizenship at Temple University. Spiro says Rafael Cruz’s multi-country odyssey did not follow traditional models for immigration. SPIRO - “Ted Cruz himself seems to be an advocate of those traditional immigration models. Maybe he should be a little more tolerant of the nontraditional Versions, given his own father’s history.”
1970 - Ted Cruz is born in Canada, to two parents who had lived in Canada for at least four years at that time, and had applied for and received Canadian citizenship under Canadian Immigration and Naturalization Laws, as stated by Rafael Cruz. As a result, US statutes would have voided the prior “green card” status which requires among other things, permanent residency within the United States and obviously, not becoming a citizen of another country during the time frame of the US green card.
1974 - The Cruz family moves to the United States when Ted is approximately four years old. Rafael Cruz has publicly stated that he remained a citizen of Canada until he renounced his Canadian citizenship when he applied for and became a US Naturalized citizen in 2005. As a result, his wife and son were also Canadian citizens, his son being born a citizen of Canada in 1970.
2005 - Rafael Cruz applies for legal US citizenship and renounces his Canadian citizenship. No record of Ted renouncing his Canadian citizenship or applying for US citizenship exists as of 2005.
2013 - Freshman Senator Ted Cruz is a rising star in the Tea Party movement, and calls for him to run for the White House begin. In July, Ted Cruz is Questioned by the press about his interest in running for President, and the issue of his Canadian born citizenship is brought up Sen. Ted Cruz rejected questions Sunday over his eligibility to be president, saying that although he was born in Canada “the facts are clear” that he is a US citizen.
“My mother was born in Wilmington, Delaware. She is a US. citizen, so I’m a US citizen by birth,” Cruz told A&C. “I’m not going to engage in a legal debate.”
NOTE: Senator Cruz omits the part of his father’s story, in particular, the part about his parents applying for and receiving Canadian citizenship prior to Ted’s birth in Calgary. He also attempts to gloss past the actual definition of natural)born Citizen by implying it is a mere legal debate for others to figure out.
August 2013 - As Ted’s political stock rises in the Tea Party, so do press questions about his eligibility for office. Ted decides to quiet the questions by releasing his birth certificate, which now becomes absolute proof of Ted’s Canadian citizenship at birth, 1970, Calgary, Canada. The release of the Canadian birth records only serve to further fuel the controversy.
Ted seeks Legal Counsel, as the media is now pressing members of Canadian Immigration and Naturalization to clear the matter up, when instead, Canadian officials confirm the Ted Cruz was in fact born a legal citizen of Canada, the son of two parents who had also applied for and received Canadian citizenship prior to Ted’s birth.
“He’s a Canadian,” said Toronto lawyer Stephen Green, past chairman of the Canadian Bar Association’s Citizenship and Immigration Section.
“Generally speaking, under the Citizenship Act of 1947, those born in Canada were automatically citizens at birth unless their parent was a foreign diplomat, ”said ministry spokeswoman Julie Lafortune.
Legal counsel advises Ted to “renounce his Canadian citizenship” in order to make himself eligible to run for the presidency. Of course, renouncing one’s original citizenship only further proves one’s original citizenship.
May 2014 - Ted Cruz legal counsel files to renounce Ted’s Canadian citizenship in an effort to make him eligible to run for high office under the natural born Citizen clause Article II in the US Constitution.
AUSTIN, Texas - Canada-born US Sen. Ted Cruz has given up his citizenship from his birth country, making good on a promise from last summer. spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said “the Tea Party favorite formally gave up his citizenship May 14th. He received official confirmation of the action at his Houston home Tuesday.”
News that he had renounced his citizenship was first reported by the Dallas Morning News. The newspaper also bro$e that Cruz had dual Canadian) US citizenship when he released his birth certificate in August.
Frazier said Cruz “he is pleased to have the process finalized” and that it “makes sense he should be only an American citizen.”- of course, the Constitution does not require that one be only an American citizen, but rather a natural born Citizen.
As of February 4, 2015 - No evidence of any US Citizenship has been released to confirm anything at all about the true citizenship status of Ted Cruz.
Because Ted Cruz has been confirmed a legal citizen of Canada up until renouncing his Canadian citizenship in May of 2014, and because he has been confirmed a citizen of Canada at birth, and because his father is on public record stating that he and his wife became citizens of Canada during their eight years living in Canada and because Rafael Cruz remained a citizen of Canada until he renounced and applied for legal US citizenship in 2005. There is simply NO WAY that Ted Cruz was, is or ever can be a Natural Born Citizen of the United States eligible for the offices of President or Vice President.
So, does this mean that members of the Tea Party are engaged in an overt effort to defraud Tea Party members who are Ted fans, by all of this legal fancy foot work.
The facts are all well documented. You decide...
One who inherits their Citizenship at birth via nature alone, from their natural birth father, is a natural born Citizen of the United States. According to all available information on Ted Cruz and his family, Ted Cruz was a native born citizen of Canada and not a natural born Citizen of the United States. Now, Ted is either not too bright, or not too honest... But he is at least one of the two... and what about the Tea Party leaders behind this legal shell game?
State of Delaware vital records says, no record of Eleanor Elizabeth Darragh Wilson Cruz exist. Ted Cruz’s mother does not have a US birth certificate.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/256409078/Cruz-Citizenship-Timeline-documented
Ted Cruz Citizenship Timeline
State of Delaware Vital Records says, no record of Eleanor Elizabeth Darragh Wilson Cruz birth exist. Ted Cruz’s mother does not have a US birth certificate.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/anna-tomerlin/ted-cruz-citizenship-timeline/815852778451290
This is perhaps the best argument to address your point.
" I did understand, however, that my oath to preserve the constitution to the best of my ability, imposed upon me the duty of preserving, by every indispensable means, that government, that nation, of which that constitution was the organic law. Was it possible to lose the nation, and yet, preserve the constitution? By general law life and limb must be protected; yet often a limb must be amputated to save a life; but a life is never wisely given to save a limb. I felt that measures, otherwise unconstitutional, might become lawful by becoming indispensable to the preservation of the constitution through the preservation of the nation. Right or wrong, I assumed this ground, and now avow it."
-Abraham Lincoln-(1864)
Yes, but what do you suppose would be his opinion regarding two faggots who want to pretend to be married?
I have no respect for judicial opinions anymore. Most of them are fools, and more still are just ignorant.
Let me repeat ... it’s meaningless BEYOND HIS JURISDICTION. PA is his jurisdiction.
Unless and until SCOTUS defines NBC all these judges’ opinions have very limited effect. This judge cannot and has not defined NBC.
Who obviously didn’t have the facts. Also, the same memo he used to decide this case states any and every anchor baby has the right to be president. You think that is ok? I posted the timeline which seems to question whether or not his mother actually had US citizenship, was she born here? Cruz’s father was not American and his mother gave up her citizenship prior to Ted’s birth. So how do two Canadian citizens pass American citizenship to their son?
This statement is in error. Congress recognized a person born abroad to a U.S. citizen FATHER is a U.S. citizen from birth. They recognized this by creating a blanket naturalization "at birth."
The rule didn't apply to US citizen Mothers, and it was in fact a "naturalization".
There was an exception to “natural born” built in for those new Americans who were born in Britain previous to the time the U.S. broke away from Britain during the American Revolution. It was a new country...most of the leaders of our country were men who had been born in Britain and were the early pioneers when America was created. I was amazed to read about a group call the three percenters...evidently only 3% of the population in the U.S. at that time were united in breaking away from Britain and creating their own country (bet they all belonged to that first tea party, too.) I’m 76 and first I heard of it...plan to research that further.
Nope, not federal. Pennsylvania judge.
Now be consistent. Your definition of what "natural born citizen" means changes every time they change the law. It's changed a dozen times since 1787, and I think the change that affects Cruz happened in 1952.
It is *MY* position that it doesn't change, and that no laws subsequent to 1787 can modify it through a new naturalization statute.
So which is it? Does it change since 1787, or does it not change since 1787?
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