Texas Senator and presidential candidate Ted Cruz attempted to confused and deceive viewers of the most recent presidential debate when pressed on the constitutionality of his presidency due to his Canadian birth.
Cruz quipped back at the man who brought up the issue, Donald Trump, by questioning if Trump was eligible as his mother was not a U.S. Citizen.
In the past, Donald Trump called for the investigation of President Obama’s qualifications, not because Obama’s father was not a citizen, but because Obama’s birthplace was in question.
Ted Cruz and most others familiar with the Constitution know that if a child is born on U.S. soil, that person is a natural born citizen.
Trump was born in Queens, New York.
However, Cruz was born in Canada.
Cruz was not born on a military base, at an embassy or any other place considered to be “U.S. Soil.”
In defending his argument and confusing Americans, Ted Cruz brought up John McCain’s foreign birth and argued that under Trump’s theory, McCain was not qualified either.
John McCain who was born in Panama . . . in the Panama Canal Zone . . . which was considered U.S. Soil until 1979.
The real question that Cruz must answer is the definition of a “Natural Born Citizen.”
Clearly, a child born in America or what is considered U.S. Soil is a Natural Born Citizen.
For children born overseas to a U.S. citizen, parents must report the birth to the nearest U.S. Embassy and complete form FS-240 in order to establish citizenship for the child.
If Cruz’s parents had to process that paperwork then his qualification for president is in question (Note that Rafael “Ted” Cruz’s father did not become a U.S. Citizen until 2005).
The U.S. State Department states, “Persons who acquired U.S. citizenship or U.S. nationality at birth in one of the following current or former territories or outlying possessions of the United States during relevant time periods are not eligible for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad of a U.S. Citizen because such persons are not considered to have been born abroad.”
Those current and former territories include: Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, Swains Island, Panama Canal Zone, Mariana Islands and the Philippines.
Cruz’s place of birth, Calgary, Canada is not on the list.
Cruz’s citizenship is arguably not “natural” in that upon his birth – or before the age of 18 – the parents of the presidential contender had to complete the State Department’s “Consular Report of Birth Abroad” (CBRA).
In order to avoid a legal quagmire, Cruz needs to produce his CBRA, which will include the age that he applied to citizenship.
Born in 1970 in Canada, Ted Cruz moved to Texas in 1974.