Ted Cruz Campaign Releases Mother's Birth Certificate to Satisfy Unsatisfiable Crazy People

Slate ^ | January 8, 2016 | Jim Newell

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Unless he himself becomes president, Donald Trump should serve in the next administration as Special Envoy for Getting People to Dig Up Birth Certificates for Public Consumption, because he's hella good at it. His speculation about Obama's birthplace prompted the President to release his long-form birth certificate in 2011. And now, after only a few days of muttering about Cruz's eligibility to become president, he's prompted Cruz to release… his mother's?

Wait, it makes sense.

As best we can tell there are two main strands of Cruz birtherism. One is that the Supreme Court has never directly ruled on the meaning of the Constitution's "natural born citizen" requirement. Even though it is understood by experts to mean "U.S. citizen at birth," as Cruz was, some opportunistic critics, such as Trump, have been warning about the phrase's not-totally-determined meaning and how that could open the door to distracting legal cases if Cruz becomes the nominee.

The other is that maybe Cruz was not a U.S. citizen at birth, because his mother did not meet the requirements for transmitting citizenship to her child. As we wrote yesterday, "Those born abroad between 1952 and 1986 earned U.S. citizenship at birth if their parents were married and one parent was a U.S. citizen who spent 10 years in the United States with five of those coming after age 14. Cruz's parents were married, and his mother meets the citizenship requirements." This gives Cruz birthers another person's life to inspect: that of Eleanor Cruz, the senator's mother. Democratic congressman Alan Grayson (yes, there are Democratic Cruz birthers) has said that the eligibility suit he's supposedly prepping against Cruz would focus on Eleanor. As U.S. News reported this week:.....

[RC one]

His father was a Canadian citizen at the time of his birth and he was born in Canada. natural born citizen my ass.

[libbylu]

He’s the most conservative of the candidates. My concern for him is the GOPe wouldn’t give him the money to run. They’d starve his campaign and they are more than happy to stick with Hillary.
Why the snark? You said gop wouldn’t give him money to run. So why the crap from COC?

[cabojoe]

Thank goodness Cruz is putting this info out there. I signed some online petition a while ago, and Ted started spamming my inbox so bad asking for money that I thought he must be a Nigerian prince!

[libbylu]

Yeah. They get nasty.
Do you think if Trump’s mouth doesn’t take him out Ted will? I have thought that for a while.

[elhombrelibre]

Trump said this was a non-issue in Sep 2015. Now, as he trails in the polls in Iowa, he switched it up. It’s like how he dealt with the Clintons. Hillary, Trump once trumpeted, would make a great president. Bill Clinton’s sexual harassment (perjury and obstruction of justice) was he said, “unimportant.” Then, he bashed George W. Bush after blessing off on Clinton’s bad behavior and crimes. Trump is always situational in his philosophy and ethics. He is untethered to a core principle. He’s okay with Cruz’s citizenship when it doesn’t harm Trump’s ambition. He’s alarmed and aghast at Cruz’s citizenship when it harms Trump’s ambition. He’s a fan of the Clintons when he wants them at his third wedding and to help him line up government business for his alleged 10 billion dollar empire. He’s against Bill Clinton sexually harassing when Bill Clinton might harm Trump’s ambition. There are no core beliefs that keep him steadfast without regard first to profit and power.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Perhaps you'd like to shop at the Trump Store.

[elhombrelibre]

Let’s vet all Reality TV stars running for president, too.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

“....Trump is always situational in his philosophy and ethics. He is untethered to a core principle.”....

You should add this to that list:

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Donald-Trump-Ronald-Kessler/2012/11/26/id/465363/

November 26, 2012

“.....[Mitt] Romney’s solution of “self deportation for illegal aliens made no sense and suggested that Republicans do not care about Hispanics in general, Trump says.

“He had a crazy policy of self deportation which was maniacal,” Trump says. “It sounded as bad as it was, and he lost all of the Latino vote,” Trump notes. “He lost the Asian vote. He lost everybody who is inspired to come into this country.”

The GOP has to develop a comprehensive policy “to take care of this incredible problem that we have with respect to immigration, with respect to people wanting to be wonderful productive citizens of this country,” Trump says..........

[elhombrelibre]

I can tell you that any American service member married to a foreign spouse who has a child together that child is an American citizen. This has been the case for a long, long time. The both parents must be American citizens is not the case for determining the child’s citizenship. This whole Trump trick is about a diversion. It diverts potential voters from his weird character, his weird long time support for Democrats, his weird hair, his weird TV Reality fame, his weird attacks on fellow candidates, and it’s a red herring.

[elhombrelibre]

Those are great examples. One can imagine Trump saying almost anything with passion and conviction because of Trump’s past pattern of behavior and pronouncements. I think most of his supporters don’t even know he’s never been anything but a Democrat until recently, and not just a moderate Democrat. He was a big time funder of them and a Clitonista. He praised them. He supported them. He defended them. Now, doing a 180, he is here to inform US that Bill Clinton was a cad. I guess when the Clintons came to Trump’s third wedding, Trump had no idea that Bill’d been harassing women, perjuring himself, or obstructing justice. Trump will say anything to get power even though he’s held no previous elected position.

[Mogger]

On his mother's side, Ted's grandparents were born in Wilmington, Delaware.

One great grandfather born in Delaware, great grandmother, in Pennsylvania. Other great grandfather born in Italy, great grandmother born in Ireland.

The line of the gf b. in Delaware goes mostly back to Ireland.

Funny how the true patriots today have only a few generations in the USA, when RINOs like Jeb have at least 6 Mayflower ancestors.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Correct, but you will be “informed” that Trump is a businessman so that pandering and support for Democrats and their causes is acceptable.

It isn’t but that’s what they plead in his defense.

[grania]

You've stated what "you think". The only problem with that is natural born citizen is, and always has been, a term that should be exactly defined. It should've been done centuries ago. But, after Obama's first term, c'mon. It was really negligent for Republicans not to demand an exact definition. Instead, they let us go down that slippery slope.

Now we've got a situation. The backstabbing sellout disgusting 'pubs did nothing real to get a legal opinion that just might've stopped Obama's second term. Do you really think the dems won't use it against Cruz if they get to frame the debate?

[John Valentine]

With all the brouhaha regarding Ted Cruz’s dual citizenship at birth, no one seems to be paying attention to the fact that Donald Trump was also a very likely to have been a dual citizen at birth and is to this day entitled to take up his British nationality with a simple application and nominal fee.

Here are the relevant facts:

Donald Trump’s mother was born Mary Anne MacCleod on May 10, 1912 in Stornoway, Eilean Siar, Scotland, UK and was a subject of the United Kingdom from birth.

In 1936 Mary Anne MacCleod married Fred Trump, a US citizen born in the Bronx, NY.

Mary Trump became a naturalized citizen of the United States on March 10, 1942.

Fred and Mary Trump had a son, Donald, born on June 14, 1946.

The above set of facts make Donald Trump a citizen of the United States at birth, just as the circumstances of Ted Cruz’s birth make him a citizen of the United States at birth.

The above set of facts also make Donald Trump a subject at birth of the United Kingdom, just as the set of facts surrounding the birth of Ted Cruz made him a citizen of Canada at birth. Both men were arguably dual citizens at birth and into adulthood.

The difference is that Ted Cruz has renounced his Canadian citizenship, but I have seen no evidence that Donald Trump, or for that matter his mother, Mary Trump ever renounced their British nationality.

Some might argue that Mary Trump’s US citizenship ceremony of March 10, 1942 would have sufficed to accomplish that. Those making this argument would be wrong as a matter of law.

A person may renounce British nationality by making a specific renunciation to the Home Secretary. Renunciations made to other authorities (such as the general renunciation made as part of the US naturalization ceremony) are not recognized by the UK.

I have been unable to discover any evidence, nor in fact any reference at all to Mary Anne Trump ever renouncing her British nationality in the manner required by UK law.

Under British law, children of British mothers and children of British fathers born abroad before 1983 can acquire a UK passport. Children of British mothers born before 1983 may require a nationality registration fee, which is free as of 22 November 2010, although any such child must pay 80 pounds for a citizenship ceremony. They also must undergo a background check into their eligibility and be of “good character” and attend the citizenship ceremony.

On its face, according to UK law and practice, Donald Trump is entitled to a UK passport merely for the asking and payment of a nominal registration fee, even today.

Does that not make Trump himself a dual citizen?

I’d hate for this eligibility issue to come back on Trump should he become the eventual nominee. Perhaps Trump ought to renounce his UK nationality as Ted Cruz did his Canadian nationality before this becomes a big issue.

Frankly, I don’t understand why this has not been made more of that it has. Folks don’t seem to have any problem making a mountain out of a molehill when it comes to Ted Cruz. Why is Donald Trump’s dual citizenship seemingly off limits?

[nopardons]

Yes, yes, of course; I'm not arguing about that and I don'/t think that anyone else is either. It's the NBC that is the "sticking point" here.

No, Obama isn't a NBC either.

Trump was asked a question, he answered it. Then he tried to make it better, but didn't. And blaming him for it all is just dumb!

And before you try to jump down my throat again, I posted all of this about Obama when he was running for the presidency against Hillary !

[elhombrelibre]

Yes, they use the “everyone is doing it” defense so popular with teenagers and noncritical thinkers. It’s a sophistry beneath the standards of most FReepers.

[Yosemitest]

Maybe that will shut those TROLLS up (but I doubt it).

Exclusive: Birth Certificate for Ted Cruz's Mother

WHY feed the Piranha, WHEN all they're going to do is CONTINUE their baseless attacks ?

[Moonmad27]

I am convinced Trump did this on purpose to get the issue discussed and over with before he picks Cruz as his VP.

Despite your best efforts, I’m for Trump/Cruz 2016!

[Yosemitest]

The Naturalization Act of 1790, let's read it , too ( even though it DOES NOT APPLY) !

United States Congress, "An act to establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization" (March 26, 1790).

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled,

That any Alien being a free white person,
who shall have resided within the limits and under the jurisdiction of the United States for the term of two years,
may be admitted to become a citizen thereof on application to any common law Court of record in any one of the States
wherein he shall have resided for the term of one year at least,
and making proof to the satisfaction of such Court  that
he is a person of good character,
and taking the oath or affirmation prescribed by law
to support the Constitution of the United States,
which Oath or Affirmation such Court shall administer,
and the Clerk of such Court shall record such Application, and the proceedings thereon;
and thereupon such person shall be considered as a Citizen of the United States. 


And the children of such person so naturalized,
dwelling within the United States,
being under the age of twenty one years at the time of such naturalization,
shall also be considered as citizens of the United States. 

And the children of citizens of the United States that may be born beyond Sea, or out of the limits of the United States,
shall be considered as natural born Citizens: 
Provided, that
the right of citizenship shall not descend to persons whose fathers have never been resident in the United States: 
Provided also, that
no person heretofore proscribed by any States, shall be admitted a citizen as aforesaid,
except by an Act of the Legislature of the State in which such person was proscribed.

"Ohhhh noooooooooooooo..."!
Mr. Bill !
Listen to a REAL CONSTITUTIONAL LAWYER:

MARK LEVIN explains that Ted Cruz IS a natural born citizen ( 7:30 )
Published on Sep 17, 2013

Here's the supporting article from Ilya Shapiro, a senior fellow in constitutional studies and editor-in-chief of the Cato Supreme Court Review.
Like most immigrants, he does a job Americans won't: defending the Constitution.

Yes, Ted Cruz Can be President
August 26, 2013., by Ilya Shapiro

As we head into a potential government shutdown over the funding of Obamacare, the iconoclastic junior senator from Texas - - love him or hate him - - continues to stride across the national stage.
With his presidential aspirations as big as everything in his home state, by now many know what has never been a secret:
Ted Cruz was born in Canada.

(Full disclosure: I'm Canadian myself, with a green card.
Also, Cruz has been a friend since his days representing Texas before the Supreme Court.)

But does that mean that Cruz's presidential ambitions are gummed up with maple syrup
or stuck in snowdrifts altogether different from those plaguing the Iowa caucuses?
Are the birthers now hoist on their own petards,
having been unable to find any proof that President Obama was born outside the United States
but forcing their comrade-in-boots to disqualify himself by releasing his Alberta birth certificate?

No, actually, and it's not even that complicated; you just have to look up the right law.
It boils down to whether Cruz is a "natural born citizen" of the United States,
the only class of people constitutionally eligible for the presidency.
(The Founding Fathers didn't want their newly independent nation to be taken over by foreigners on the sly.)

What's a "natural born citizen" ?
The Constitution doesn't say,
but the Framers' understanding, combined with statutes enacted by the First Congress, indicate that
the phrase means both birth abroad to American parents - - in a manner regulated by federal law - -
and birth within the nation's territory regardless of parental citizenship.
The Supreme Court has confirmed that definition on multiple occasions in various contexts.

There's no ideological debate here:
Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe and former solicitor general Ted Olson - -
who were on opposite sides in Bush v. Gore among other cases
- - co-authored a memorandum in March 2008 detailing the above legal explanation in the context of John McCain's eligibility.
Recall that McCain --
lately one of Cruz's chief antagonists
- - was born to U.S. citizen parents serving on a military base in the Panama Canal Zone.

In other words, anyone who is a citizen at birth - -
as opposed to someone who becomes a citizen later ("naturalizes"
or who isn't a citizen at all
- - can be president.

So the one remaining question is
whether Ted Cruz was a citizen at birth.
That's an easy one.
The Nationality Act of 1940 outlines which children become "nationals and citizens of the United States at birth."
In addition to those who are born in the United States or born outside the country to parents who were both citizens - -
or, interestingly, found in the United States without parents and no proof of birth elsewhere - -
citizenship goes to babies born to one American parent who has spent a certain number of years here.

That single-parent requirement has been amended several times, but under the law in effect between 1952 and 1986 - - Cruz was born in 1970 - -
someone must have a citizen parent who resided in the United States for at least 10 years,
including five after the age of 14, in order to be considered a natural-born citizen.
Cruz's mother, Eleanor Darragh, was born in Delaware, lived most of her life in the United States, and gave birth to little Rafael Edward Cruz in her 30s. Q.E.D.

So why all the brouhaha about where Obama was born, given that there's no dispute that his mother, Ann Dunham, was a citizen?
Because his mother was 18 when she gave birth to the future president in 1961
and so couldn't have met the 5-year-post-age-14 residency requirement.
Had Obama been born a year later, it wouldn't have mattered whether that birth took place in
Hawaii,
Kenya,
Indonesia,
or anywhere else.
(For those born since 1986, by the way,
the single citizen parent must have only resided here for five years,
at least two of which must be after the age of 14.)

In short, it may be politically advantageous for Ted Cruz to renounce his Canadian citizenship before making a run at the White House,
but his eligibility for that office shouldn't be in doubt.
As Tribe and Olson said about McCain - -
and could've said about
Obama,
or the Mexico-born George Romney,
or the Arizona-territory-born Barry Goldwater
- - Cruz "is certainly NOT the hypothetical 'foreigner'
who John Jay and George Washington were concerned might usurp the role of Commander in Chief."

[nopardons]

No, that's wrong.

Trump's mother became a NATURALIZED AMERICAN CITIZEN four years before Donald was born. She did NOT attain citizenship by marrying Trump's father. And in becoming a citizen, she had to renounce her allegiance to the King, renounce he UK citizenship, taking an oath of allegiance to THIS NATION!

Trump was born to TWO American citizens on American soil and does NOT have dual citizenship.