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Editorial: Ted Cruz and the ‘birther’ issue
Dallas News ^ | Aug 19, 2013 | Edtitorial

Posted on 09/02/2013 4:25:59 PM PDT by Jim Robinson

Is he a natural-born citizen or isn’t he? The question has been a nagging part of Barack Obama’s life ever since his first presidential campaign. No amount of birth certificates and sworn statements from state officials in Hawaii, his birthplace, seemed capable of putting the issue to rest. The “birther” movement continues pressing the question even today, five years after Obama’s election to the presidency.

The question nags anew, but this time Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz is the focus because he was born in Canada to an American mother and Cuban father. By law, his mother’s U.S. citizenship automatically confers natural citizenship to Cruz, just as — for those who continue to doubt the location of Obama’s birth — the citizenship of Obama’s American mother conferred it to him.

When it became a hot-button issue in 2008, Democrats countered that Obama’s GOP opponent, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, was born to American parents at a U.S. military installation in the Panama Canal Zone. The implication being that if Republicans wanted to play the birther game, Democrats could, too.

This is such a nonissue, regardless of whether the candidate is Republican or Democrat. Nevertheless, narrow-minded individuals, including some prominent personalities such as billionaire former presidential contender Donald Trump, are doggedly trying to concoct controversy and introduce doubt where there should be none.

These men have been natural U.S. citizens from birth and have every right to seek the nation’s highest office. Article II of the Constitution sets out three eligibility requirements to be president: that the person be at least 35 years old, a resident within the United States for 14 years and a “natural-born citizen.”

(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: 113th; cruz; cruz2016; elections; naturalborncitizen; nbc; tedcruz
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To: lonestar

Okay, could you please link me to your source.

I’d like to read the report.


101 posted on 09/02/2013 7:12:57 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (This post coming to you today from behind the Camelskin Curtain. Not the Iron or Bamboo Curtain...)
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To: X-spurt

Actually, I didn’t give you a reference. I merely stated that the reports I read only referenced the mother. I also stated they did not make claims about her marital status.


102 posted on 09/02/2013 7:13:48 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (This post coming to you today from behind the Camelskin Curtain. Not the Iron or Bamboo Curtain...)
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To: sten

Of course I believe in the constitution. Cruz was born to a qualified American mother while temporarily working in Canada. He meets all the legal requirements. Don’t know if that same standard can apply to Obama (if he was not born in the US). His mother does not qualify (according to some of the posts on these threads).


103 posted on 09/02/2013 7:14:12 PM PDT by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God!!)
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To: Jim Robinson

I’m still not convinced he wasn’t born in Kenya either. His grandmother says she attended the birth there. I believe the President or a high ranking official stated he was. There were signs in the village there about where he was born.

Nothing even close to that, that is valid has been presented to show where he was born in Hawaii. For a while there two hospitals were claiming he was born in them.

I may be remembering this incorrectly, but didn’t he himself first claim to have been born in one hospital there, and then change it?


104 posted on 09/02/2013 7:18:10 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (This post coming to you today from behind the Camelskin Curtain. Not the Iron or Bamboo Curtain...)
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To: DoughtyOne

Madison commented in his presidency that children born to citizens (citizen father automatically bestowed citizenship to the mother via marriage in that era) at sea or temporarily abroad were to be considered ‘natural born’.

The idea is that American citizens maintain a ‘domicile’ on US or US controlled/possessed soil and are able to maintain a ‘residence’ abroad. For purposes of immigration, ‘domicile’ and ‘residence’ are legally distinct terms.

It is clear the fact that Cruz was born in Canada does not render him ineligible to be president because his mother was there for work, not for immigration to Canada. In other words, her domicile was in the USA while her residence was temporarily in Canada.

Where Ted Cruz gets hung in this is that it was not his father who was an American citizen at the time of his birth nor was his father automatically bestowed with citizenship via marriage to his citizen mother.

What is needed is a new law or an amendment to existing law with retroactive and prospective provisions that clearly address the distinction between ‘natural born citizen’ versus ‘citizen by birth’. We know that all natural born citizens are citizens by birth but not the other way around. In set language, natural born citizens are a proper subset of citizens by birth; the requirements for natural born are stricter than those for citizen by birth.

Why was the bar for natural born set higher than that for citizen by birth?

It was John Jay’s letter to General George Washington that requested a higher bar for the presidency when the Constitution was being drafted and resulted in ‘natural born’ meaning ‘second generation’ as a requirement for the presidency.

John Jay was clearly concerned that a President as Commander-in-Chief must be loyal and have allegiance to the United States because a person with divided loyalties and muddled allegiance would have command of the Army and hence would be in a position to become a tyrant.

I am persuaded that Barack Obama has divided loyalties and muddled allegiance to the United States.

But with Cruz, it is clear he is American through and through in spirit, loyalty and allegiance.


105 posted on 09/02/2013 7:20:50 PM PDT by Hostage (Be Breitbart!)
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To: Jim Robinson; All

BO has a birth certificate? Show me a paper copy.


106 posted on 09/02/2013 7:23:17 PM PDT by gura (If Allah is so great, why does he need fat sexually confused fanboys to do his dirty work? -iowahawk)
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To: X-spurt

“The only way NBC will be clarified is if ...”

The only way NBC will be clarified is if ... the Paleo-Birthers join forces with Martha Coakley, Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts ... and disqualify somebody from the primary ballot or general election ballot in Massachusetts.

You can see that the Natural Born Paleo-Birthers have Natural Born Allies in the commie-Lawyers who like to file Federal Lawsuits.


107 posted on 09/02/2013 7:24:23 PM PDT by campaignPete R-CT (we're the Beatniks now)
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To: sten

You’re golden! And ready to run with it! The only question now is whether you meet the legal requirements to admitted to practice before the Supreme Court

COMPLETE CERTIFICATION ON FOLLOWING PAGE. Supreme Court of the
United States. APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION TO PRACTICE.

http://www.supremecourt.gov/bar/barapplication.pdf


108 posted on 09/02/2013 7:32:54 PM PDT by campaignPete R-CT (we're the Beatniks now)
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To: Hostage

if John Jay becomes Chief Justice in the next 3 years, this could get interesting.

BTW, Clarence Thomas goes on and on in his Official Opinions published by the Court ... about a lot of things. And, legally, they mean diddle-spit.


109 posted on 09/02/2013 7:41:46 PM PDT by campaignPete R-CT (we're the Beatniks now)
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To: Hostage

I agree with your conclusions, and appreciate the information provided. Thank you. Nice post.


110 posted on 09/02/2013 7:48:00 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (This post coming to you today from behind the Camelskin Curtain. Not the Iron or Bamboo Curtain...)
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To: Jim Robinson

Cruz was born on Canadian soil. this yields Canadian citizenship.

His mother is American and had spent more then 5 years after the age of 14 in the US. this yields his US citizenship

then there is his Dad. I believe he was still Cuban, potentially resulting in a Cuban claim

and of course, he could claim british citizenship as Canada is part of the UK

0bama’s only claim to US citizenship would be being born on the soil, as his mother was too young. of course, as his father was Kenyan, he can claim British by descent but not Kenyan unless he was born in that country.

this of course results in 0bama having multiple citizenship possibilities at birth... and therefore not a natural born citizen


111 posted on 09/02/2013 7:57:34 PM PDT by sten (fighting tyranny never goes out of style)
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To: xzins
So, would you vote for Christie over Cruz?

Of course not. But that question is irrelevant if Cruz's dual or triple citizenship (US, Canada, Cuba) is an issue for his qualification as Commander in Chief of the US Armed Forces.

112 posted on 09/02/2013 8:04:46 PM PDT by mvpel (Michael Pelletier)
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To: af_vet_rr

That’s old fashioned.../s


113 posted on 09/02/2013 8:08:39 PM PDT by Dallas59 (Obama: The first "White Black" President.)
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To: sten
and of course, he could claim british citizenship as Canada is part of the UK

Which would be news to Canadians...

114 posted on 09/02/2013 8:11:15 PM PDT by okie01 (The Mainstream Media: IGNORANCE ON PARADE)
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To: X-spurt
NBC sounds very good in theory, but in practice there is no clear Constitutional answer one way or the other. That is precisely why NBC will never be heard or settled by the SCOTUS.

The only way NBC will be clarified is if SHTF and only if the hands shaping the renewed Constitution possess firm common sense.


SCOTUS will not define NBC because there is no "right" to the classification. Anyone can claim they are NBC. If don't believe them, then the only thing anyone can do is not vote for them.

Congress is not authorized to define NBC, only establish a uniform rule of immigration and naturalization.

The only way to determine if a person is ineligible for POTUS is to examine their immigration and naturalization papers on file with DHS. SCOTUS has opined, repeatedly, naturalized citizens are not eligible for POTUS. The State Department, in its policy guidance, asserts a statutory citizen (U.S citizen at birth born abroad with at least one U.S. Citizen parent) is not a naturalized citizen, even though a statutory citizen must comply with the Immigration and Naturalization Act to be issued a Certificate of Citizenship to prove U.S. Citizenship.


115 posted on 09/02/2013 8:13:28 PM PDT by SvenMagnussen (1983 ... the year Obama became a naturalized U.S. citizen.)
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To: mvpel

It won’t be. If Cruz runs, the law is pretty clear about his status.

The only argument anyone has against him is 3 words in the Constitution that aren’t defined, and those who object define it their own peculiar way without regard to contradictory historical and legal opinion.

Any citizenship conferred by any other country is irrelevant. The constitution says nary a word about it. All it says is “natural born citizen”.

Everything else is opinion. All of this fire and smoke is about a difference of opinion.


116 posted on 09/02/2013 8:14:44 PM PDT by xzins ( Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! Those who truly support our troops pray for victory!)
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To: sten

Well, I don’t know if Canada or Cuba claims him or not, but sounds like Cruz never claimed to be anything but American. And he is. A great one.


117 posted on 09/02/2013 8:20:51 PM PDT by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God!!)
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To: X-spurt

I read Cruz’ parents had lived in Canada for 4 years before his birth, and for 4 years after.

Cruz moved to the US when he was 4 years of age.


118 posted on 09/02/2013 8:26:43 PM PDT by little jeremiah (Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point. CSLewis)
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To: Jim Robinson; stephenjohnbanker; LUV W; Patty; itssme; BuckeyeTexan; Jane Long; ...

Ted Cruz Ping!


119 posted on 09/02/2013 8:31:12 PM PDT by SoConPubbie (Mitt and Obama: They're the same poison, just a different potency)
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To: DoughtyOne

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/08/19/ted-cruz-renounces-canadian-citizenship-in-statement/


120 posted on 09/02/2013 8:48:22 PM PDT by lonestar (It takes a village of idiots to elect a village idiot.)
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