Trump supporters file 'birther' lawsuit against Cruz in federal court

The Hill ^ | 02/12/2016 | Bradford Richardson

[GIdget2004]

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 primary, according to AL.com.

[CyberAnt]

LOL .. Sorry .. I meant to tell you my Creator was GOD, so you can argue with him .. since he’s “my authority”.

[Jane Long]

You were suspended??

We’ll have to get you a reprimand, from Trump, for that ;-)

[Yosemitest]

"There is plenty of precedent."

Judge Richard Gordon DISMISSED Lawyers Mario Apuzzo and Leo Donofrio and their ballot-challenge case of Allen v. Arizona Democratic Party.
And he did so “WITH PREJUDICE.”

Arizona Court Declares Lawyers Mario Apuzzo and Leo Donofrio Totally Cracked on What Makes a Natural Born Citizen

Now IF the Court had given such a “definition,” it still would’ve merely been non-binding dicta, or side commentary —
as any such determination was clearly non-essential to the matter they were deciding.
Such reasoning might have been convincing to a later Court — or it might not have been.

But the fact is,
they simply didn’t create any such “definition” of “natural born citizen” —
in spite of Apuzzo’s (and Leo Donofrio’s) elaborate twisting of their words to try and make it sound as if they did.

And even if they had — which they didn’t — it would’ve been OVERTURNED 23 years later, in the definitive citizenship case of US v. Wong Kim Ark.
In that case, the Supreme Court told us quite clearly, in not one, but in two different ways, that Wong Kim Ark,
who was born on US soil of two NON-citizen Chinese parents, wasn’t thereby JUST “a citizen” —
he was ALSO “natural born.”

If he was “natural born,” and he was “a citizen,”
then it is inescapable that the Court found young Mr. Wong to be a natural born citizen.


The 6 Justices who agreed on the majority opinion (against only 2 dissenters) also discussed the implications of such status for Presidential eligibility.
So they in fact found
that Wong Kim Ark would be legally eligible to run for President upon meeting the other qualifications — reaching the age of 35, and 14 years’ residence.

Mr. Wong, who lived most of his life as a simple Chinese cook in Chinatown, never ran for President, of course.
And in the highly racial America of his day Wong almost certainly could not have been elected if he had tried.

But according to the United States Supreme Court, legally speaking,
Mr. Wong DID HAVE the legal qualification to eventually run for, and serve as, President of the United States —
if the People should have decided that he was the right person for the job.

There’s much deeper we could go into the issue, of course.
I haven’t found the time to refute Mr. Apuzzo’s bogus “two citizen parents” claims in the full, absolute detail that I would like to.
There is an awful lot of refutation here, here, and here,
though.

It would be nice to put ALL of the pieces together in one place.
However, for those who don’t mind a bit of digging, the references given above are a good start.

But never mind — a court in the State of Arizona the day before yesterday quite clearly and authoritatively refuted Mr. Apuzzo for me.
The court smacked down Apuzzo’s and Donofrio’s claims in no uncertain terms.

Judge Richard Gordon DISMISSED the ballot-challenge case of Allen v. Arizona Democratic Party.
And he did so “WITH PREJUDICE,” which means
“This case has been fully heard and judged on its merits
and we’re done with it —
don’t attempt to darken my door with this same accusation ever again.”

Note that again:
Apuzzo’s claim has been officially tried in a court of law, on its merits, and found to be totally cracked.
And the ruling struggled to stretch barely past two pages into three.
That is NOT a lot of discussion,
which indicates that this was not anything even REMOTELY resembling a “close call.”


The pertinent language in Judge Gordon’s ruling is as follows:

“Plaintiff claims that
President Obama cannot stand for reelection [in the State of Arizona] because he is not a ‘natural born citizen’ as required by the United States Constitution… Most importantly, Arizona courts are bound by United States Supreme Court precedent in construing the United States Constitution,
Arizona v. Jay J. Garfield Bldg. Co., 39 Ariz. 45, 54, 3 P.2d 983, 986 (1931),
and this precedent fully supports
that President Obama is a natural born citizen under the Constitution
and thus qualified to hold the office of President.
See United States v. Wong Kim Ark
, 169 U.S. 649, 702-03 (1898) (addressing U. S. Const. amend. XIV); Ankeny v. Governor of the State of Indiana,
916 N.E.2d 678, 684-88 (Ind. App. 2010) (addressing the precise issue).
Contrary to Plaintiff's assertion, Minor v. Happersett, 88 U.S. 162 (1874), does not hold otherwise.“

...

So your statement that "There is plenty of precedent. " has been DENIED by the courts !

[Cboldt]

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. @realDonaldTrump 2:45 PM - 12 Feb 2016

It would be considerably more difficult for the courts to argue standing, but they can just as easily evade the question with ripeness and justiciability. This one would be a District Court then direct appeal to SCOTUS, regardless of what the District Court does. And difficult for SCOTUS to evade without getting tainted, given the spotlight that would be on it.

[Cboldt]

Yo can post those to ALL if you want. I don’t read anything you write.

[HarleyLady27]

According to Cruz and his supporters, this is exactly what it means...to heck with the Constitution of The United States of America....

Cruz is no better by doing this than obuma....all Cruz has to do is show he is a Natural Born Citizen of the United States of America, born on American Soil or have a document showing he is eligible to be here in America and all this would be solved...

If Cruz had such a document, he would have it on the media 24/7 so that tells me he doesn't....

Several things to consider....one his father and mother were not married at the time of his birth, or she was a citizen of Canada at the time of Ted's birth...in 1970, Canada did not have ‘dual’ citizenship...

[Cboldt]

-- You were suspended? --

No. But The Final Harvest thought I was.

[CyberAnt]

You’re confusing people who come here from other countries .. who were born of parents who were citizens of another country, and who gave birth to their child in their own country.

The only remedy is “Naturalized Citizen” .. NOT “NATURAL BORN CITIZEN” OF ANOTHER AMERICAN CITIZEN.

What is so hard about knowing that ..??

NO MATTER WHERE YOU’RE BORN .. IF YOUR MOTHER WAS A NATURAL BORN CITIZEN OF AMERICA .. THEN YOU ARE AUTOMATICALLY AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. It’s that simple.

Why is everybody making it so hard to understand.

[hoosiermama]

That was a carrot to encourage Cruz to clean up the issue himself.
Cruz passed on that! So offer is off the table (it never was they are working together. Remember O and his Kenyan BC would make his situation identical to TC. DT offered $5 million for records And then he and Sheriff Joe got very quiet Freepers who were with the original search team for documentation to support a freepers memory know why. That’s all that can be told at this time. Just remember for future reference
All involved at patriots who love the constitution and their country.
Be supportive it’s not easy for any of them !

[CrosscutSaw]

Cruzers are not going to like this ... but it should settle the issue once and for all either way.

I support Cruz, and I love it. Just as you say, settle the issue once and for all either way.

The reason Trump keeps threatening to sue but never will is because he doesn't want the issue settled.

[HarleyLady27]

The Constitution says to be able to run for President or V.P. of the United States of America you have to be born on American Soil...all Cruz has shown us is his Canadian Birth Certificate...so where is the other paper he needs to show he is a Citizen of The United States of America?

If he had it, it would be on the news 24/7 so that shows me he doesn’t have anything...

[Duchess47]

Yes, you should bring suit.

[Art in Idaho]

Thanks for your research and posts.

Doesn't the following put it to rest, or am I missing something?

:Currently, Title 8 of the U.S. Code fills in the gaps left by the Constitution. Section 1401 defines the following as people who are "citizens of the United States at birth:"

"Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is an alien and as long as the other parent is a citizen of the U.S. who lived in the U.S. for at least five years (with military and diplomatic service included in this time)."

Therefore, no case against Cruz? ?

[Amendment10]

After all the ”no standing” decisions by judges who were arguably protecting Obama from the same type of complaint, it would be very interesting if the courts started respecting citizen complaints filed against Cruz.

[Yosemitest]

WRONG !
The ILLEGAL ALIEN IN CHIEF was NEVER QUALIFIED to run for PRESIDENT because he was NEVER a CITIZEN of the United States, Naturalized or Natural B own !

But TED CRUZ was qualified on the DAY HE WAS BORN !

The Arab-Kenyan Barack Hussein Obama II, (a.k.a. Barry Soetoro), ( the one guilty of TREASON ! ) has NO legitimate Social Security Number.
This disgusting Curse on our Nation named Barack Hussein Obama II, aka Barry Soetoro, has a real birth certificate, with his right footprint on it.
All you have to do is look for it.
His father was NOT an immigrant to the United States.
Barack Obama Sr. was a "Transient Alien" because he did NOT intend on residing in the United States permanently.
Barack Obama Sr. was a dual citizen of Great Britain and Kenya, and NEVER a United States Citizen.

Read British National Archives Show Son Born To Obama Sr. In 1961 In Kenya!

His mother could NOT impart U.S. citizen to her son, Barack Obama II,
because she did NOT meet the legal requirements to do so,
at the time her son was born IN the Coast Provincial General Hospital, MOMBASA, KENYA at 7:21 pm on August 4, 1961.
Democrats knew this and tried to eliminate the "Natural Born Citizen" requirement at least 8 times BEFORE Obama won his election in 2008.

Obama is NOT a United States Citizen, and is NOT a LEGAL IMMIGRANT.
He has no VISA allowing him into this country.
Barack Hussein Obama II IS ILLEGAL !

TED CRUZ is by far, the MOST CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATE we've got !

FACT: Cruz’s father’s Cuban nationality at the time of Cruz’s birth, is irrelevant, according to the law at that time,
just so long as he was a LEGAL Immigrant at the time of Ted Cruz's birth,
AND both of Ted Cruz's parents were legally married to each other.

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

The 14th Amendment IS a part of the U.S. Constitution and states in SECTION 5.
The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
So, under that power to legislate, Congress legislated and the President signed into law:
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.

... While there were initially rules regarding what the child must do to retain citizenship,
amendments since 1952 HAVE ELIMINATED THESE REQUIREMENTS.

When Ted Cruz was born, his parents were "IN WEDLOCK".

They married, moved to Calgary, Alberta, and in late 1970 had their first and only child, Rafael Edward Cruz.
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.

Source

In 1957, Rafael Bienvenido Cruz (Ted Cruz's father) 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.

"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.

So there is the law for the time Ted Cruz was born,
AND HOW Ted Cruz's PARENTS fulfilled ALL those requirements of the law that time, for Ted Cruz to be a "Natural Born Citizen".
Ted Cruz did NOT NEED a Court and a Judge to "Nationalize" him.

[hoosiermama]

How many friends would sis have in those courts?
NY NJ
Bet CHRISTY is involved too!

[Suz in AZ]

DoJ teaches new citizens that in order to be president, “you must be born in the United States.”

What is so difficult about that?
...with fill in the blanks to test you on it, too.

Need a link?

[CA Conservative]

Wouldn't that then imply that no individual has standing?

Unfortunately, that is often the case.

[EternalVigilance]

Thank you for your counsel.

[hoosiermama]

That’s his opinion. Here’s another

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ted-cruz-is-not-eligible-to-be-president/2016/01/12/1484a7d0-b7af-11e5-99f3-184bc379b12d_story.html

Which opinion is coming from a constitutional law professor. ?