A Simple-Minded Reading of the Constitution on the Subject of Citizenship

vanity | 1/16/2016 | Self

[John Valentine]

Offered for discussion. Please try to avoid the usual contemptuous rhetoric. Please keep it civil.

[House Atreides]

Your analysis is spot on and correct IMHO. Thank you for your effort.

[goldstategop]

Yup.

Only the Presidency is closed to naturalized citizens.

The Founders presumed the equality of American citizens for all other elective offices.

If Cruz is a natural born citizen; he’s eligible to run for President.

If he is a naturalized citizen, he cannot become President.

[SatinDoll]

Good post.

This is the original, and I believe, the only interpretation of what Natural born citizen means. It is an eligibility requirement for the U.S. Presidency.

[Qwackertoo]

Very nice work. Thanks.

[goldstategop]

Its the sole federal office to which a naturalized American citizen is ineligible.

[EternalVigilance]

There are only two kinds of citizens: natural born citizens and naturalized citizens, the latter being those made citizens by statute, not nature.

Mr. Cruz falls into the latter category, having been granted citizenship solely based on the provisions of the 1952 Immigration and NATURALIZATION Act.

For all other purposes than the qualifications for president, there is no real difference. A naturalized citizen has been made as if he were natural born, with all attendant privileges and immunities.

[SatinDoll]

That is correct.

[centurion316]

The laws and customs of the United States conform with this interpretation. The citizens of the United States are divided into two classes, Natural born and naturalized. All of those who received their citizenship by court or administrative act are naturalized citizens and must present documentation of that event.

[DB]

Yes, either you are born with citizenship based on the conditions of your birth or naturalized. If you are a citizen and not naturalized you have to be “natural born”. There is no third option.

Cruz was born with citizenship based on the law at the time of his birth. That makes him a natural born citizen.

My 2 cents.

[Red Steel]

Look at the concluding last line and now look at your tagline.

[ClearCase_guy]

If Cruz's mother filed a Consular Report of Birth Abroad when he was born, then Cruz may have paperwork saying he was born a US citizen. However, if paperwork was done at a later date (say, when his family crossed the border so that they could live in the US), then I suppose he became a citizen later in life. Not natural born.

Cruz should show the paperwork.
It's basically the same thing many of us expected Obama to do. It shouldn't be hard.

[AmericanVictory]

Under your analysis, the intent of the Framers in using the phrase "natural born citizen" in Article II does not matter. Do you believe that?

Do you know of any case decided by the SCOTUS on any language of the Constitution that takes the position that the intent of the Framers in using the phrase and placing it in the Constitution does not matter?

[kik5150]

Cruz became a U.S citizen the moment he was born.
Let's say for arguments sake that Cruz was born in another country that did not confer citizenship to the child of two non-citizens. If Cruz was not born a U.S citizen then he would be born with no citizenship whatsoever!

[kjam22]

Yep... and if the framers had intended the president to be “NATIVE born”..... they were smart enough to say that.

[goldstategop]

The courts won’t entertain a suit about who is a native born citizen.

They will rule it has no standing.

The controversy surrounding Cruz is simply political theater.

[DB]

It does matter. It excluded naturalized citizens from that office and only that office.

[kjam22]

Do you believe the framers knew the difference between Natural Born and Native Born? Or are you arguing that they mean the same thing????

[goldstategop]

Under international law, you become the citizen of the country you’re born in, period.

There is an exception for diplomats and military dependents, who always receive the citizenship of their home country.

Depending on a country’s citizenship rule, some countries may allow dual citizenship.

[so_real]

May a child be "naturalized by statute at birth"? I believe "yes"; it is the very definition of an "anchor baby". Are children naturalized by statute at birth also natural born citizens? I believe "no"; this runs counter to the Framers' greatest fears of usurpation of the presidency through children of aristocracy loyal to the British Empire.