Did Ted Cruz Just Learn He Is a Canadian Citizen?

[DonViejo]

By Josh Voorhees | Posted Monday, Aug. 19, 2013, at 9:23 AM

Canadian-born Ted Cruz is eligible to become the president of the United States. Born in Calgary to a mother who is a U.S. citizen, Cruz automatically became a "natural born Citizen," making him POTUS-eligible according to the vast majority of scholarly legal and historical opinion out there. Of course, we already know that the weight of such evidence isn't always enough to put such questions to rest. So, with that in mind, Cruz released his birth certificate to the Dallas Morning News on Sunday, a move aimed at quieting such concerns but one that may have unintentionally raised another one for the Tea Party favorite.

Cruz is also a Canadian citizen, according to the Canadian law experts the Morning News spoke with. Under the Citizenship Act of 1947, anyone born in Canada is automatically granted citizenship at birth unless their parent was a foreign diplomat. (Cruz's parents were not.) Or, more simply, as University of Montreal law professor France Houle put it: "If a child was born in the territory, he is Canadian, period."

There's nothing in the U.S. Constitution that bars anyone with dual citizenship from becoming president, but the simple fact that Cruz could claim a Canadian passport or vote in a parliamentary election is unlikely to sit well with those who were already doing their best to dub him "Canadian Ted." Still, there appears to be an easy fix if Cruz wants one: He can formally renounce his Canadian citizenship by filling out a four-page form and paying $100.

Whether Cruz will do that, however, remains to be seen. As of Sunday night, his office claimed to be unaware that the Texas Republican is technically still a Canadian citizen. "Senator Cruz became a U.S. citizen at birth, and he never had to go through a naturalization process after birth to become a U.S. citizen," spokeswoman Catherine Frazier told the Morning News. "To our knowledge, he never had Canadian citizenship, so there is nothing to renounce."

###

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/08/19/ted_cruz_canada_calgary_born_texas_republican_has_dual_us_canadian_citizenship.html?wpisrc=newsletter_jcr:content

[raging moderate]

1. So why have they hounded Obama with false claims of a birth in Kenya?

Last edited Mon Aug 19, 2013, 02:31 PM - Edit history (1)

This really defies all reason. If Ted Cruz became a "natural-born Citizen" at birth because his mother was a U.S. citizen, then Barack Obama also became a "natural-born Citizen" at birth because his mother was a U.S. citizen. They can't have it both ways. If it doesn't matter where Cruz was born, then it doesn't matter where Obama was born. For years, they have harassed Obama with false claims that he had been born in Kenya. Now that we have clear evidence one of their boys actually WAS born elsewhere, suddenly it doesn't matter. Another high point in IOIYAR!

[gordianot]

2. Republicans take the iron out of irony.

All you have left is a "y" which translates into a "why". To answer the question "Why" it results from the fundamental Republican assumption that the electorate is stupid proven every time someone votes for them.

[BlueDemKev]

8. 3 Reasons.

1) He's liberal

2) He has strange, Muslim-sounding name

3) (As if you couldn't guess)...his skin is "too dark" to be trusted.

[Jamaal510]

24. Nailed it.

It's all politics. I'm sure that the vast majority of prominent Republicans know that Obama was born in the US of A, but they also know the base absolutely abhors him, so they want to continue fattening the beast up with this red meat.

[DesertRat]

41. Actually President Obama became a natural born citizen at birth

in Hawaii, which is in the U.S. Case closed.

[rurallib]

3. I thought he was called "Calgary Ted"

but due to the state of our schools, probably better to call him "Canadian Ted". So many Americans aren't aware Calgary is in Canada.
But I am guessing he will want to keep that Canadian citizenship just in case Obamacare falls through and he loses his job. He can just move to Canada to pick up health care.

[Thor_MN]

18. I'd bet they would think that Cagary was that place in the bible....

[IggleDoer]

4. How do we know that Cruz' mother was born in the US? Just because he said so?

Was she really born in the US. Even if she was, did she renounce her US Citizenship when she moved to Canada? After all, Carnival's father renounced his citizenship from the country of his birth.

[Atman]

5. Dude is dumber than a turnip.

My apology to turnips.

[tblue37]

37. LOL--At first I read your post as "dumber than a Trump"--

and I was just about ready to argue with you, since nothing can be dumber than Trump!

[LiberalFighter]

6. The question to ask him over and over

is he a USA citizen or Canadian citizen? If he is a USA citizen why hasn't he renounced Canadian citizenship?

Immigrants into the country that seek citizenship don't have that choice. They have to renounce any citizenship they may have in another country.

While we are on that subject does he have any security clearances that he shouldn't have because of a dual citizenship?

[Blasphemer]

9. No, they don't. Lots of people have dual citizenship.

However, I do not understand why he claims that he doesn't have Canadian citizenship. He may never have exercised his rights as a Canadian citizen but he has dual citizenship.

[LiberalFighter]

13. But are they in Congress or in another federal govt position?

And what are their security clearances?

[Blasphemer]

23. Well, that's a separate question

I was mainly taking issue with the idea that immigrants have to renounce their other citizenship(s) as a rule. They don't. Ted Cruz certainly should and it was ridiculous for him to pretend that there was nothing to renounce.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

16. People find themselves in this situation quite honestly

I know someone who was born in Mississippi but moved to Canada at a very young age. He was oblivious to the fact he remained a US citizen until the new passport rules came into effect. Upon presenting his Canadian passport to US Customs at the Vancouver airport (which listed his birthplace as Mississippi) the immigration officer demanded his US passport instead and then explained to him that unless he had renounced his citizenship he was still a US citizen, congratulations and get a US passport before he travelled again.

People just don't know this stuff, it doesn't come up in most walks of life.

[Humanist_Activist]

27. The U.S. doesn't officially recognize dual citizenship, and also doesn't require denouncing it...

either. This means, if you are a dual citizen, then you can use a Non-U.S. passport to enter another country, but not to return to the U.S. They won't recognize that passport as valid, only U.S. passports for U.S. citizens.

[yellowcanine]

7. Good thing his daddy wasn't Muslim or he would be a Canadian Muslim.

The horror!

[TeamPooka]

10. Where was my "Texas Elects Canadian to Senate" headline when I needed it? nt

[UCmeNdc]

11. Cruz is a Canadian but is he really an US citizen?

His mother would need to fill out paper work to make him a citizen of the United States. If she did not then Ted Cruz is not a citizen of the United States.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

14. In Calgary?

You would have to be proactively oblivious not to receive that type of information. There were even posters at a couple hospitals I have been to that had information on registering US births and deaths.

[UCmeNdc]

12. Ask for the long form birth certificate from which hospital and which state?

How can he have a birth certificate from a Canadian hospital and claim US citizenship?

[Liberalboy]

15. You can keep him...thx!

[marble falls]

17. Good. Let's have him deported!

[jenmito]

19. It's NOT a birth certificate. It's a "Certificate of Birth"...

it's obviously a fake!!1!!11!

[big_dog]

20. Cruz will renounce Canadian citizenship

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) announced Monday evening that he will renounce his Canadian citizenship, less than 24 hours after a newspaper pointed out that the Canadian-born senator likely maintains dual citizenship.

“Now the Dallas Morning News says that I may technically have dual citizenship,” Cruz said in a statement. “Assuming that is true, then sure, I will renounce any Canadian citizenship. Nothing against Canada, but I’m an American by birth and as a U.S. senator; I believe I should be only an American.”

The Dallas Morning News wrote in a story posted late Sunday night that Cruz likely remains a Canadian citizen, by virtue of being born there to an American mother. Having never renounced that citizenship, Cruz was technically a Canadian and an American citizen, according to legal experts.

Cruz said his mother told him that he could claim his citizenship if he ever wanted to, but that he never pursued it and thought the matter was settled. Legal experts say that Cruz is a Canadian citizen regardless of whether he asked for it or not.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/08/19/cruz-will-renounce-canadian-citizenship/?print=1

[jenmito]

21. Doesn't matter according to the Birthers. He wasn't BORN here...

so he's not a "natural born citizen."

[blkmusclmachine]

22. Pres. Ted Cruz. Q.: Will there be any bi-partisanship???

DIDN'T THINK SO!!!

[Jamaal510]

25. I'm shocked to

hear that the Birthers even went after Cruz at all. I'm guessing that they felt the urge to do so in order to dodge accusations of being racist and biased against Democrats.

[Dustin DeWinde]

26. cruz is not a natural born citizen

The constitution says that only natural born citizens or those who were citizens at the time of the adoption of the constitution can be our president.

Cruz'. Canadian birth certificate shows he wasn't "natural born" to this country, so unless it says he was born before 1787 he can't be our president.

[Humanist_Activist]

28. Incorrect, you can be a natural born citizen through jus sanguinis, (through the blood)...

roughly translated. You are thinking of jus soli, (by the soil, or somesuch), which is a primary means, but jus sanguinis is just as valid, the point is, if he didn't have to got through the naturalization process, he is a natural born citizen, by default.

[UCmeNdc]

30. No, if he is not born on US soil his mother has to apply for his citizenship.

His mother must let the US authorities know she gave birth then they supply authorization saying he is a US citizen.

[Dustin DeWinde]

31. thank you

Since there was paperwork involved Cruz is not a natural born citizen. Excellent point.

The supreme

[Dustin DeWinde]

32. the supreme

Court never actually ruled on what makes a person a "natural born" citizen .
It's obvious to most of us thar means someone born here. Bit with Scalia and Roberts you never know
In any event with over 310 million of us why should we even consider someone born outside our borders to be our president?

[Humanist_Activist]

35. There is paperwork involved in everyone being born a citizen of the United States...

and failure to file such paperwork by the parents can lead to problems later in life. Like having no Birth Certificate, or Social Security Number.

[Humanist_Activist]

34. Technically his mother is registering his birth with U.S. authorities...

similarly to a U.S. birth certificate, and it is retroactive to his birth, making him a natural born citizen. It is not naturalization.

[Recursion]

29. Persons born to US citizens abroad are natural born citizens

provided those parents have met certain residency requirements. John McCain (born in Panama) is one example.

It's why the whole birther thing is kind of funny, since had Obama been born in Kenya he would still be a natural born US citizen.

[Dustin DeWinde]

33. mccain was born on a us army base

Technically us soil.
And enough people were concerned about it that congress felt obligated to pass a resolution saying he could run for president

[Myrina]

36. Why doesn't Ted run for President of Canada?

I'd donate towards that.

[UCmeNdc]

38. Wher is Ted Cruz's Form SF-240?

http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=relmfu&v=77Sq3PmI9EU

[Jakes Progress]

39. If he just learned this, it makes him the most stupid

senator in office. And that is saying a lot.

He wants us to believe that he had no idea how citizenship laws work. And then he wants us to think he is smart enough to be a senator. So he is a liar or he is truly dumb as a rock. (Of course, he's probably both.)

[DFW]

40. Cruz has some 'splainin' to do to Canadian Tax authorities

If you're a dual citizen, you have to file tax returns in both countries unless you go through the bureaucratic hoops and file foreign residence with the one of your countries where you do not reside (my German-born daughter living in Germany has to file a US tax return along with her German one). My other one lives in New York and gets out of filing German taxes because she has registered her American residence with the Germans. The USA makes every citizen, resident or not, and dual or not, file a tax return. Cruz needs to check real fast to see what Canadian regs are. As a Canadian citizen, he probably needed to be filing tax returns in Canada, or register his US residence with Canadian authorities to get out of it, and that's assuming Canada follows Germany's example and not ours.

Finally, Cruz knew the whole time where he was born. If he never bothered to even inform himself of his status over the course of decades, he certainly can't be expected to handle the responsibilities of national office.

The one comforting thing in all this is the obvious conclusion that Harvard Law sometimes admits and even graduates morons who talk a good talk, as well as admitting individuals with unusual names who indeed do turn out to be presidential material.

Wouldn't it be sweet to see Cruz led away in handcuffs and expedited to Canada for failing to file tax returns?