University of Chicago Law Professor: Cruz not Eligible

Slate ^ | February 9, 2016 | Behind the Blue Wall

[Behind the Blue Wall]

The words natural born citizen, and their original meaning at the time that this constitutional clause was crafted, go a long way to answering this question. In founding-era America, like today, a person could be a citizen by virtue of birth on American territory; a citizen by virtue of a statute that granted citizenship to him at birth; a "naturalized" citizen, meaning one who entered the country as an alien but later obtained citizenship via a process determined by law; and a foreigner.

A natural born citizen cannot be a foreigner. Foreigners are not citizens. A natural born citizen cannot be a person who was naturalized. Those people are not born citizens; they're born aliens. Most important for the purposes of the Cruz question, a natural born citizen cannot be someone whose birth entitled him to citizenship because of a statute—in this case a statute that confers citizenship on a person born abroad to an American parent. In the 18th century, as now, the word natural meant "in the regular course of things." Then, as now, almost all Americans obtained citizenship by birth in this country, not by birth to Americans abroad. The natural way to obtain citizenship, then, was (and is) by being born in this country. Because Cruz was not "natural born" -- not born in the United States -- he is ineligible for the presidency, under the most plausible interpretation of the Constitution.

[bushpilot2]

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/02/is_ted_cruz_eligible_for_potus.html

[bushpilot2]

http://suffolktimes.timesreview.com/2016/02/65617/ted-cruz-new-york-primary-eligibility-objected-by-calverton-man/

[Cboldt]

From that piece ...

Suffolk County Board of Elections Commissioner Nick LaLota said Mr. Cruz's birthplace or citizenship status was "not germane" to whether or not he would be allowed to appear on the ballot in New York State's primary, which is set for April 19.

Per state rules, all a candidate needs in order to earn a spot on the ballot is to be "nationally known," eligible for presidential primary matching funds, or to have filed a petition with 5,000 signatures. Appearing in a debate generally satisfies that first requirement, Mr. LaLota said.