Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Bad news for Ted Cruz: his eligibility for president is going to court
Vox ^ | 02/18/16 | Dara Lind and Jeff Stein

Posted on 02/19/2016 6:36:53 AM PST by Enlightened1

The problem: the meaning of "natural-born citizen"

Here is what the Constitution says about who can be president:

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

The problem is the Constitution doesn't define "natural born Citizen." Neither does any current law. And no one has ever brought a court case to decisively settle the question as a matter of US law.

There are three ways someone can be a US citizen. He can be born in the US (regardless of who his parents are). He can be born outside the US to at least one US citizen parent, as long as certain criteria are met (those criteria are set by federal law and have been changed over time). Or he can immigrate here and then successfully apply for citizenship, a process called naturalization.

Everyone agrees that the first category of people are natural-born citizens. Everyone agrees that the third category of people are not natural-born citizens (regardless of how unfair it might be that immigrants can't be president). But Ted Cruz is in the middle category, and this is where the meaning of "natural born" starts to get fuzzy.

(Excerpt) Read more at vox.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Philosophy; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: birthers; citizen; citizenship; court; cruz; cruznbc; cruznbccourt; eligibility; nbc; president; tinfoilhat; trumpites; truthers
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 261-280281-300301-320321-337 next last
To: Dstorm

That’s the entire point of a CRBA — to document that a person holding it is in fact a citizen because they were born to a citizen parent who held citizenship at the time the birth occurred even though they were not in the United States. If his mother did indeed register him at the US consulate at birth he would have received a CRBA and he also would not have received Canadian citizenship as Canada did not recognize dual nationality at that time, not until 1977. Further, there is possible evidence that his mother was registered to vote in Canada. To be registered to vote one must of course be a citizen. If she took Canadian citizenship her birth certificate is immaterial because at the time she gave birth to Ted she was Canadian, not American. As this is a CIVIL case there is no ‘presumption of innocence’ only a probability (50.1%) that the accusation is true. Produce a CRBA and all of this goes away.....unless of course he is holding it back for maximum political benefit.


301 posted on 02/19/2016 11:17:55 AM PST by yadent
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 293 | View Replies]

To: yadent

Where is the testimony she lost her citizenship? What matters is what she was at the moment Ted was born. If you have evidence she was not a citizen at that time, that would be fair game. I think that’s close to Grayson’s argument. But I’ve searched and been unable to confirm your statement. Do you have a reliable source for that?

Peace,

SR


302 posted on 02/19/2016 11:18:50 AM PST by Springfield Reformer (Winston Churchill: No Peace Till Victory!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 251 | View Replies]

To: Springfield Reformer

As I stated, POSSIBLE evidence-———http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/01/08/ted-cruz-parents-canada-voters-list/-——— which could be enough for the basis of a CIVIL case.


303 posted on 02/19/2016 11:29:26 AM PST by yadent
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 302 | View Replies]

To: Jim 0216

I did say he needed to take care of it. I don’t blindly follow and agree with everything Cruz says or does.


304 posted on 02/19/2016 11:32:56 AM PST by 5thGenTexan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 279 | View Replies]

To: 5thGenTexan

That’s good. We all need to do that when it comes to those who are asking us to hire them to take out money and wield power over us.


305 posted on 02/19/2016 11:37:47 AM PST by Jim W N
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 304 | View Replies]

To: KGeorge

You make a very good point. If senators, Reps, etc., had to relinquish one office to run for another, we the people would be that far ahead of the game. As it is, since they make rhe rules, they set it up to be lopsidedly beneficial to them.

Why we don’t vote more of them out is a mystery to me. So many of them need to be gone—including those who only ran for one office to use it as a springboard for running for a higher one.


306 posted on 02/19/2016 11:49:59 AM PST by Fantasywriter (Any attempt to do forensic work using Internet artifacts is fraught with pitfalls. JoeProbono)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 283 | View Replies]

To: yadent

But this has already been debunked. Her name on a list of possible voters is not evidence of any action on her part to relinquish her U.S. citizenship. Again, what matters is what was true at the moment of birth, and I have seen no factual evidence of problems there that would get any attention in court. The facts are not in contest. The law and its meaning remain the focal point of this case.

Peace,

SR


307 posted on 02/19/2016 12:03:05 PM PST by Springfield Reformer (Winston Churchill: No Peace Till Victory!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 303 | View Replies]

To: Tulsa Ramjet
As i understand it Cruz was born of a American parent, so done deal for me.

From what I understand, Cruz's parents were living in Canada and owned a business for three years prior to Ted's birth. His birth certificate is as a Canadian citizen. They remained in Canada four more years. Ted Cruz is eligible to be president as much as Princess Grace of Monaco's children. In other words, he is not eligible.

308 posted on 02/19/2016 12:11:20 PM PST by upsdriver (I support Sarah Palin.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Springfield Reformer

Not completely debunked as Canadian immigration authorities declined a request by Breitbart News and other inquirers for additional documents, citing Canadian privacy laws. Room for possible ‘discovery’. Bottom line, I and many others have doubts, you and others don’t.


309 posted on 02/19/2016 12:20:44 PM PST by yadent
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 307 | View Replies]

To: yadent

Debunked in terms of being affirmative evidence of any problem. As your own post indicates, without more information pulled in through discovery, it takes you nowhere. Even worse for your case is that it comes in 1974, well after Ted was born, so it just has no relevance to the question of what was the state of things at the moment he was born. If you were a potential client asking me to take this case, and this was your best evidence, I’d pass it up as crackpot, a waste of my time. A lawyer can become famous doing crackpot. Not my cup of tea. BTW, don’t take any of that personally. I have no grievance with you. I’m just thinking “what if” in terms of my own law practice.

Peace,

SR


310 posted on 02/19/2016 12:51:02 PM PST by Springfield Reformer (Winston Churchill: No Peace Till Victory!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 309 | View Replies]

To: Springfield Reformer

No worries, I can follow the trains of logic and may lean more with one than another but there is yet room to argue which definition is correct. It would be save a lot of dissension if specific requirements could be agreed upon yet to whom would that task fall? Perhaps a clarifying amendment rather than the judiciary.


311 posted on 02/19/2016 1:22:27 PM PST by JayGalt (Come not between the nazgul and his prey.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 269 | View Replies]

To: musicman

And impossible to watch on my brother’s computer — the one with the speakers not yet installed.


312 posted on 02/19/2016 1:45:01 PM PST by Rockingham
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 254 | View Replies]

To: Dstorm
The only way she could register him at the consulate is by filling out paperwork. APPLICATION FOR CONSULAR REPORT OF BIRTH ABROAD OF A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICAis the modern form.

How Adult Children Born Abroad to American Parents Can Prove U.S. Nationality

What happens if you were born abroad, but you still have a claim to U.S. citizenship? You may have acquired your U.S. citizenship at birth because your parents (or even just one parent) are U.S. citizens and fulfilled certain U.S. residency or military service requirements. The laws dictating which children can acquire U.S. citizenship automatically have changed frequently throughout the years. For more information, please see Nolo's section, "Acquiring or Deriving Citizenship Through Parents."

If you were eligible to acquire U.S. citizenship at the time of your birth, your parent or guardian may, ideally, have registered your birth with the Department of State or the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate and received a document which can be used to prove your nationality. These types of documents include:

FS-545, Certification of Birth (issued by the Department of State prior to November 1, 1990)

DS-1350, Certification of Report of Birth (issued by the Department of State prior to December 31, 2010), and

FS-240, Report of a Birth Abroad of a U.S. Citizen (currently issued by all U.S. embassies and consulates).

The Department of State no longer issues FS-545 or DS-1350 certifications, but those documents are still considered valid proof of U.S. citizenship and can be used to apply for a U.S. passport or to demonstrate work authorization. U.S. embassies and consulates now issue a very official-looking FS-240 certificate to U.S. citizens whose parents register their foreign birth.

How Foreign Born Children of American Citizens Can Obtain Citizenship

313 posted on 02/19/2016 1:57:27 PM PST by JayGalt (Come not between the nazgul and his prey.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 293 | View Replies]

To: Dstorm; masadaman

I also was never told that, although my kids born overseas came along in 2002 and 2004.


314 posted on 02/19/2016 2:13:12 PM PST by Gil4 (And the trees are all kept equal by hatchet, ax and saw)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 298 | View Replies]

To: Enlightened1; All

Illinois judge Maureen Ward Kirby not sure she has jurisdiction, Cruz attorneys allege papers not timely served at Cruz’s home:

http://www.tpnn.com/2016/02/19/bombshell-judge-just-said-something-about-ted-cruzs-eligibility-that-could-change-everything/

Hearing on Cruz’s motion to dismiss set for March 1.

https://thedaleygator.wordpress.com/

Peace,

SR


315 posted on 02/19/2016 2:28:31 PM PST by Springfield Reformer (Winston Churchill: No Peace Till Victory!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Springfield Reformer; All

That’s standard procedure and nothing unusual.

For the record even if Cruz succeeds. They will keep introducing new law suits until they can get Cruz campaign suspended.

It does not end here.


316 posted on 02/19/2016 2:31:09 PM PST by Enlightened1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 315 | View Replies]

To: okkev68

The Constitution only requires 14 years of residence. That means we could legally have a president who is a natural born citizen, but who was raised entirely in another country. We could have a 65 year old who spent 50 years living outside the US. Clearly the Founders intended for such people to be eligible.


317 posted on 02/19/2016 2:46:08 PM PST by Hepsabeth
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 281 | View Replies]

To: Fantasywriter

It’s incredible, isn’t it?

lol Don’t get me started on city councils, mayors, & ‘’city managers’’.


318 posted on 02/19/2016 2:48:03 PM PST by KGeorge
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 306 | View Replies]

To: IBIAFR

No ability to claim citizenship of another country at time of birth...

*******

The US has no say in an no control over other countries’ citizenship laws.

So any PITA tinpot country can declare that all US citizens are also citizens of said PITA country, and cannot renounce it, and the US government can’t do a thing about it. Then, if your rule is in effect, no one will be eligible for the presidency.


319 posted on 02/19/2016 2:56:00 PM PST by Hepsabeth
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 294 | View Replies]

To: Cboldt

Mary Brigid McManamon, Democrat,

Lawrence Tribe, Democrat - Left Wing Judicial Activist - hard-core Hillary Clinton supporter.

Einer Elbauge, And yet another Lib

The statute on the books on the day Cruz was born made him a citizen on that day.
The statute conferred birth-based American citizenship on any foreign-born baby who had at least one parent who was a U.S. citizen.


320 posted on 02/19/2016 3:09:10 PM PST by G Larry (ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS impose SLAVE WAGES on LEGAL Immigrants.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 115 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 261-280281-300301-320321-337 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson