Chin: Ted Cruz can be president, probably

News4Jax.com ^ | Published On: Aug 13 2013 05:59:22 PM EDT | By Gabriel "Jack" Chin Special to CNN

[Perdogg]

The Constitution says that only "natural born citizens" are eligible to be president. Is Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas eligible, given that he was born in Canada of a U.S. citizen mother and a Cuban immigrant father?

If Cruz runs, 2016 will be the third consecutive election in which there were questions about the right of a major party candidate to serve. Unfortunately, the Framers left few clues about exactly what a "natural born citizen" is; Congress has not used the phrase in citizenship statutes since 1790.

[SADMILLIE]

I love Ted Cruz!! But the term “natural born “ has been litigated 40 times and he is nor going to qualify so we must move on and make him attorney general. Let’s don’t waste time on a Canadian born man any more than a Kenyan born. If that had been proven , Barry was out.

[P-Marlowe]

Saying so does not make it so.

And sayin' it ain't so does not make it ain't so.

[PA-RIVER]

You are right. See my last post.

I love my daughter more than life itself. But I will not lie and call her something she is not.

I work with a Greek who took both of his American born kids back to Greece to get their citizenship papers. He refuses to allow his kids to speak English in his house. I’m quite sure he thinks they are entitled to run this ass backward country. So much for natural born citizenship.

[MamaTexan]

I love my daughter more than life itself. But I will not lie and call her something she is not.

Good for you! I have a very good friend born in Washington State of a foreign father and American mother. He was designated a dual citizen at birth and had to formally acknowledge which citizenship he would choose when he reached the age of majority.

I love him like a brother, but he is NOT natural born.

[PA-RIVER]

Glad you responded.

We know a dual is not a natural. No matter how hard we spin the logic, Dual Citizens , in truth, are extraordinary. They have rights that a natural doesn’t have.

My daughter, your friend, Barak Obama, all were born with two sets of rights from multiple countries.

[PA-RIVER]

That second set of citizenship rights negates access to the presidency. The logic is Very simple, and that’s why they never bothered to spell it out.

Fidelity to heritage is natural.

[PA-RIVER]

If Obama had a choice. If Obama had a terrorist with a Nuke, and that terrorist gave him a choice, Mombasa, Jakarta, NYC. Do we really know what city he would save? No, we really don’t.

[Constitution 123]

The conclusion that both Obama and Cruz are not natural born citizens, mirrors your your reality. AND also, with regards to original intent, mirrors common sense.

No wall of words or endless stream of statutes can overcome that.

I only wish the supreme Court would do our country a favor and rule on this issue.

IMHO the lack of courage from government officials both in the congress and the judiciary to honor their oath to protect and defend the constitution is even more dangerous to us than the Obummer himself.

[DiogenesLamp]

Do we have to hit you over the head to get you to understand that the Constitution gives to Congress regarding the rule of naturalization...

I understand full well Congress has the power of NATURALIZATION. You don't seem to understand what the word means. Here is the 1952 version of the law which GRANTS citizenship to the Child of a single American. Note the usage of the words "By collective Naturalization"?

You are standing on sinking sand, Dio. Cruz will be a candidate, and he will be immune from any legal challenge should he run, because he is LEGALLY a BORN citizen of the USA. In other words, there can be no challenge that has even the tiniest bit of credibility.

We are all on sinking sand my friend, and part of the reason for this is because we, as a nation, have lost our freaking mind. You may be right about Cruz surviving a legal challenge, but it won't be because such a challenge isn't valid, it will be because our court system is so dysfunctional it can't pour water out of a boot with the instructions written on the heel.

Now I don't know how you are going to ignore that phrase "Nationality at birth and by Collective Naturalization", but I have faith that you will do it somehow.

[cynwoody]

Absent law Cruz is not a citizen.

Absent law, xzins is not a citizen.

"Law", of course, includes the hard-to-repeal kind, that being the 14th Amendment.

[cynwoody]

That second set of citizenship rights negates access to the presidency.

That's the part the Founders forgot to write down.

As a practical matter, it will depend on how those kids choose to lead their lives.

Being born in the US means they are natural born. Should they choose to be American, they can run for President in the future.

On the other hand, should they instead become billionaire Greek shipping magnates, they can laugh, if the IRS ever comes after them for back taxes!

[BigSkyFreeper]

Two wrongs don't make a right. Quit chipping away at the US Constitution.

Makes you wonder why Chris Matthews thinks Cruz will be the Republican nominee, so he can bring up the fact that Cruz is not an American citizen.

[BigSkyFreeper]

If Obama can be President, why not Cruz?

Cruz’s mother, Eleanor Darragh, was born in Delaware and later moved to Houston. She graduated from Rice University in 1956. By virtue of being born in the United States, she is a citizen. Because she spent most of her life before Ted Cruz was born in the U.S., he also qualified as U.S. citizen at birth.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Absent law Cruz is not a citizen.

Based on what?  Based on what is known, Cruz’s mother, Eleanor Darragh, was born in Delaware and later moved to Houston. She graduated from Rice University in 1956. By virtue of being born in the United States, she is a citizen. She never become a Canadian citizen while working in Canada in the oil industry with her husband, she therefore remained a U.S. citizen despite having birthed Ted Cruz in a Canadian hospital.

According to the law, she's a U.S. citizen and so is Ted Cruz.  Ted Cruz is an American citizen by virtue of the Naturalization Act of 1790.

[DiogenesLamp]

Cruz does not have conditional citizenship...he is a citizen.

Let me show this to you again.

Note the part where it says

"... and the other a citizen of the United States who, prior to the birth of such person, was physically present in the United States or it's outlying possessions for a period or periods totaling not less than ten years, at least five of which were after attaining the age of fourteen years: ..."

That's a condition affecting citizenship. If your mother is too young, or hasn't met the residency requirement, you are not even a citizen.

And see that part just below it where it says:

"Any person who is ... a citizen.. under paragraph (7)... shall lose his nationality and citizenship unless he shall come to the United States prior to attaining the age of twenty three years and shall immediately follow any such coming be physically present in the United States for at least five years: Provided that such physical presence follows the attainment of the age of fourteen years and precedes the age of twenty eight years.

Those are CONDITIONS. A Natural born citizen doesn't have those. They don't have to do any of that stuff to keep their citizenship.

[Candor7]

Cad Bane for President!!!

[Ray76]

A foreign born person may by operation of law acquire or derive citizenship through their parents’ citizenship status or upon their majority acquire citizenship directly by completion of a process.

A foreign born person may acquire US citizenship if they are born to US citizen parent who meet US residency requirements.

Between December 24, 1952 and November 13, 1986, a period of ten years physical presence, five after the age of fourteen, is required of the parent.

On or after November 14, 1986, a period of five years physical presence, two after the age of fourteen, is required of the parent.

If the residency requirements of the US citizen parent are not met then the foreign born person does not acquire US citizenship.

A foreign born person may acquire US citizenship if they are born to foreign citizen parents who naturalize during the child’s minority.

Other foreign born persons - those born to foreign citizen parents who did not naturalize during the child’s minority, those born to US citizen parents who did not meet residency requirements - over the age of 18 may acquire citizenship directly by applying for and completing a process.

All such above persons are defined in law “citizen”, none are defined in law “natural born citizen”.

Article II requires a president be a “natural born citizen”.

Ted Cruz was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, December 22, 1970, to a US citizen mother and a Cuban citizen father.

Relevant law December 22, 1970 is Pub. L. 82-414 § 301(a)(7) by which citizenship could be acquired through a US citizen parent who met residency requirements.

Cruz’s US citizen parent, Eleanor Darragh, graduated Rice University (Houston, Texas) in 1956.

Cruz’s US citizen parent, Eleanor Darragh, apparently met residency requirements - a period of ten years physical presence, five after the age of fourteen - for Ted Cruz to acquire citizenship through his US citizen parent by operation of Pub. L. 82-414 § 301(a)(7), by which he is in law “citizen”.

Ted Cruz is a fine man and an exemplar, unfortunately he is ineligible to the Presidency.

[Ray76]

I'm sorry. It gives me no pleasure.

We must find another candidate.

The sooner begun the sooner done.

[MamaTexan]

Do we really know what city he would save? No, we really don’t.

True, but according to one of the books he (supposedly) wrote, there was a quote to the effect of: 'if the political winds shift, I'll stand with the Muslims'

So we have a pretty good idea of which city he wouldn't!

[xzins]

You did not carefully follow the outlines of this law, Dio.

Section 301 is about those who are not only citizens but are nationals at birth. A distinguishing characteristic of paragraphs (1) through (7) is that they begin with “a person” in response to “the following” that leads off the section.

Note that YOU are in paragraph (1)

SEC. 301. (a) The following shall be nationals and citizens of the United States at birth:

(1) a person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof;

It then goes through (1) to (7) saying that “a person” meeting those requirements is both a citizen and national at birth.

All of sections (1) to (7) are about “a person”. “A person” is NOT a collective. (Unless they've been assimilated by the BORG.)

THEN comes section 302 - 308 which ARE about territories, protectorates, etc. These sections deal with either individuals (any person) or with COLLECTIVES (all persons or other similar language).

Note also the use of the “declared to be citizens” versus “are citizens”. In this paragraph, "declared to be a citizen" is a government act conferring citizenship, and sometimes for entire groups of people. Puerto Rico is the prime example since it includes both:

***PERSONS BORN IN PUERTO RICO ON OR AFTER APRIL 11, 1899
SEC. 302. All persons born in Puerto Rico on or after April 11, 1899, and prior to January 13, 1941, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, residing on January 13, 1941, in Puerto Rico or other territory over which the United States exercises rights of sovereignty and not citizens of the United States under any other Act, are hereby declared to be citizens of the United States as of January 13, 1941. All persons born in Puerto Rico on or after January 13, 1941, and subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, are citizens of the United States
at birth.***

Of interest to me is the Panama Canal Zone instructions: they seem to indicate that John McCain was "declared to be" a citizen rather than being in the category of "are citizens."

Of all the candidates who've been running, that really seems to be evidence that the government messed over our military families in the canal zone and that McCain truly might have been only a naturalized citizen.