Ref: “ Cruz was not officially American until he was 17, and this is sad news.”
You are incorrect.
In the eyes of the law and the Constitution, Cruz has officially been a natural born citizen since his birth. He did not obtain the official documents which he would need for his passport until 1986. (The laws/ legal policies on this have all been posted above.)
Your driver’s license analogy is misguided. Your argument is like saying his mother did not become his mother until she got his birth certificate.
While he was “American” from birth, he couldn’t have proved it with documentation. My drivers license analogy does stand: you can be a great driver but you can’t prove it legally without paperwork.
Any idiot, including me, knew this when pregnant abroad. My son had his USA BC within days of his birth overseas.
If he were asked to show ID papers any time from birth to 16, he only had Canadian. According to the info we have today.
Correction, he MAY have been born a citizen but he was NOT a natural born citizen ever.