Posted on 02/10/2016 1:55:32 PM PST by drewh
With Ted Cruz the victor of the first contest of the GOP nominating calendar, we can no longer avoid the question mischievously posed by Donald Trump: Is Cruz ineligible to be president? Cruz was born in Canada to an American mother and a Cuban father. The Constitution says that only a “natural born citizen†can be president. Is Cruz a natural born citizen? (You may recall that before he attacked Cruz on this front, Trump spent months flogging a ludicrous version of this critique against President Obama, who was actually born in the United States, unlike Cruz.)
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 bornâ€â€”not born in the United States—he is ineligible for the presidency, under the most plausible interpretation of the Constitution.
Congress-lowlife Alan Grayson has already promised a lawsuit if Cruz is nominated.
“They don’t care about the Constitution in this case.”
Yeah we do. Circulating stuff on the internet doesn’t make him any less eligible. So take it to court since you’re so sure.
Then neither is Marco Rubio.
http://ericposner.com/would-a-court-black-cruz-from-the-presidency/ <- no hits for slate
Not to worry, if he wins the nomination the Democrats will take it to their favorite Obama judge.
Settled as courts have ruled.
..I seem to remember some dimwit lawyer being disbarred for it LOL...
“Not to worry, if he wins the nomination the Democrats will take it to their favorite Obama judge.”
Wait, so you mean you Trump supporters are too lazy to do it yourselves?
..maybe Trump can get his endorsement...
Ted NEEDS to take care of this NOW!!!!!
No standing.
Its the doubt....
Will my vote be nulled if i voted for this candidate?
The talk isn’t ending, regardless of the oh no not this again.
Zzzzzz
We saw how that turned out for Obama. And since then we have learned more.
For example, I thought it was an issue that Obama was an Indonesian citizen as a child. But then I realized China could declare anyone that they don’t want to be President as a citizen of China.
So the key is how did you become a US Citizen? Was it via naturalization or were you a citizen at birth? If at birth you’re good to go.
Thanks
Without a doubt the best presidential candidate in 2016. The only pure constitutional conservative in the race.
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