Is Cruz Eligible?
- Thread starter artradley
- Start date
If it had to go through the courts and be ruled on then the answer would be yes he is legally eligible to be President of the United States.
It is quite frankly IMO a silly discussion. The only value that it has is that in the unlikely event that Cruz did win the election the court case could take a long time to determine.
It is a mistake that we have not gone ahead and fully defined what it means to be a natural born citizen. However I think the wording of the founders given the time period they where writing it is clear that they ment that a natural born citizen is a person who was a citizen at the time of their birth.
It is quite frankly IMO a silly discussion. The only value that it has is that in the unlikely event that Cruz did win the election the court case could take a long time to determine.
It is a mistake that we have not gone ahead and fully defined what it means to be a natural born citizen. However I think the wording of the founders given the time period they where writing it is clear that they ment that a natural born citizen is a person who was a citizen at the time of their birth.
I don't believe Cruz qualifies under the common understanding of that requirement for most of US history. So I answered the poll "no."
However, I think we should disregard stupid parts of the constitution, and this is one such stupid part. So I would let Cruz run even though he doesn't really meet that requirement.
However, I think we should disregard stupid parts of the constitution, and this is one such stupid part. So I would let Cruz run even though he doesn't really meet that requirement.
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I don't think the Constitution should be *fixed* for a situation like Cruz. McCain yes.
This is all just theatre. Comedic theatre.
I thought republicans only used these theatrics on democrats. Funny how the birther tactic is now getting all this traction, but with a fellow republican.
I thought republicans only used these theatrics on democrats. Funny how the birther tactic is now getting all this traction, but with a fellow republican.
Go at this point it seems this us more of a rightwing / independent issue and not an issue with those on the left.
Here is Ann Coulter's column (legal opinion) that Cruz is not eligible to be President. Read it - it is very well supported. It changed my mind.
http://www.anncoulter.com/
http://www.anncoulter.com/
Of course he's not.
I'll be dead in the cold, cold ground before I recognize a Canuck's right to run this country.
I'll be dead in the cold, cold ground before I recognize a Canuck's right to run this country.
I said he is, and I think it's delicious that a Republican is getting smeared the same way President Obama was.
Perhaps you forgot that it was Hillary that first started the birther question as it related to Obama. But carry on with your thoughts...
I just ate breakfast so I'm not able to read Coulter right now.
It's Saturday, and I was out late drinking with my Dad.
Very disappointed in Cruz and the Rs for not proactively taking care of this issue first and getting a ruling on it instead of letting it get where it is now and then having this "suddenly" become an issue.
If Cruz had any love for this country or the party he would withdrawal and pursue a ruling. That would likely mean he waits till 2020 if the ruling goes his way but it is the right thing to do.
If Cruz had any love for this country or the party he would withdrawal and pursue a ruling. That would likely mean he waits till 2020 if the ruling goes his way but it is the right thing to do.
It's well documented, I don't know if it is well supported. And, like most of Coulter's drivel she drops into personal attacks. That isn't something that supports a well thought out position. Plus, she admits a bias against Cruz.
File a declaratory judgment in federal court, seeking a declaration that he eligible to be elected to the Office of President.
He was born to a U.S. citizen. He's a citizen. End of conversation.
How do you come to the conclusion in your head that since he was born in Canada to a U.S. citizen, he's a Canadian?
How do you come to the conclusion in your head that since he was born in Canada to a U.S. citizen, he's a Canadian?
Another opinion that cites centuries-old British legal precedent as its basis. In 1608, British subjects convicted of treason were still hanged, drawn, and quartered. Perhaps we should look to a slightly more enlightened legal system for advice when deciding who is qualified to be our President.
You can't file directly in the Supreme Court unless you are a state vs. another state. The appellate and Supreme Court will move fast enough to decide the issue without prejudicing the voters or Cruz. See Bush v. Gore.
This law Professor disagrees with you.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...84a7d0-b7af-11e5-99f3-184bc379b12d_story.html
What EXACTLY do you think is a myth? While it may not have been Hillary proper that started that story, there was a verifiable email circulated by close supporters of her candidacy during the time that Obama and Hillary were battling for the Dem nomination. They were in desperation mode at that time and yes, Dems started the Obama birther idea...later accentuated by various people, including many Reps.
It is not accurate to say that this was started by Reps.
Google the subject AND read more than just the very biased Politifact supposed "fact checker".
Cruz is about as American as ice hockey. He's a usurper and a fraud.
When the Constitution was written, America was an infant. Now America has a few centuries under her belt. No one that was born outside a U.S. state, territory or military base should automatically be a citizen, IMO.
Wow, Cruz's Mom was American. I'm impressed. (Not) His Dad was a Cuban. He's barely half American, in my judgement.
I wish we could amend the constitution to say that both of your parents have to be born in America as well, if you want to be POTUS. That way we couldn't have foreigners hatching their offspring in the U.S. and them automatically eligible to be POTUS.
And I wish we could deport Cruz back to his homeland of Canada. Or to his Father's homeland of Cuba.
When the Constitution was written, America was an infant. Now America has a few centuries under her belt. No one that was born outside a U.S. state, territory or military base should automatically be a citizen, IMO.
Wow, Cruz's Mom was American. I'm impressed. (Not) His Dad was a Cuban. He's barely half American, in my judgement.
I wish we could amend the constitution to say that both of your parents have to be born in America as well, if you want to be POTUS. That way we couldn't have foreigners hatching their offspring in the U.S. and them automatically eligible to be POTUS.
And I wish we could deport Cruz back to his homeland of Canada. Or to his Father's homeland of Cuba.
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I never understood the Obama birther issue. He was born in Hawaii. He's American.
He's not as American as I am (both sides of my family have been in the United States since the 1700's) but he's American.
Cruz is entirely different. That prick was Canadian at birth.
Well, one of his parents was a US citizen.How come nobody talks about why the Cruz family was in Canada? Why did he want Canadian citizenship so badly for himself and his son?
People change. He was just a tyke and didn't know any better. Hey, Obama "evolved" and people swooned. What's the difference?
The Cruz mythology is wrapped up in fleeing Cuba to go to the US. Why did the old man jump to Canada and get citizenship there? Why don't they talk about that? Because it brings into doubt the whole narrative, and the flight from Cuba story has holes, too.
My understanding of the story is that Rafael and Eleanor were computer programmers working for an oil company in Texas and they were stationed in Calgary for a few years to analyze seismic exploration data.
Nothing personal but Cruz is simply a mutt.
We do not need a mutt POTUS especially with all the immigration, refuge, and foreign terrorist issues that will be facing our next POTUS. It actually surprises me that the R party would allow Cruz to get in this deep without having an official ruling on his status.
We do not need a mutt POTUS especially with all the immigration, refuge, and foreign terrorist issues that will be facing our next POTUS. It actually surprises me that the R party would allow Cruz to get in this deep without having an official ruling on his status.
By Establishment standards, yes, he is qualified. Wife is a VP at Goldman Sachs. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
I generally think of Ann Coulter as a comedienne. But this is actually pretty good. She makes her point several places, but this bit seems to target the main "plausible" argument raised by several of our better posters:
Relying on English common law for the meaning of "natural born," the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly held that "the acquisition of citizenship by being born abroad of American parents" was left to Congress "in the exercise of the power conferred by the Constitution to establish an uniform rule of naturalization." (U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark (1898); Rogers v. Bellei (1971); Zivotofsky v. Kerry (2015), Justice Thomas, concurring.)
A child born to American parents outside of U.S. territory may be a citizen the moment he is born -- but only by "naturalization," i.e., by laws passed by Congress. If Congress has to write a law to make you a citizen, you're not "natural born."
Because Cruz's citizenship comes from the law, not the Constitution, as late as 1934, he would not have had "any conceivable claim to United States citizenship. For more than a century and a half, no statute was of assistance. Maternal citizenship afforded no benefit" -- as the Supreme Court put it in Rogers v. Bellei (1971).
That would make no sense if Cruz were a "natural born citizen" under the Constitution. But as the Bellei Court said: "Persons not born in the United States acquire citizenship by birth only as provided by Acts of Congress." (There's an exception for the children of ambassadors, but Cruz wasn't that.)
So Cruz was born a citizen -- under our naturalization laws -- but is not a "natural born citizen" -- under our Constitution.
Maybe so, but Dems are just so bad at this sort of thing that hardly anybody noticed until the GOP and Tea Party whooped it up.
IMO the founding fathers meant for there to be a higher level of "citizenship" established for someone running for POTUS than someone establishing simple citizenship. If that is the case I am in complete agreement with our founding fathers.
For all the people who say YES just because his mother was a US citizen think about this. I'm assuming you are also saying YES to a situation where a female US "freedom fighter" who is a US citizen leaves the country to become a freedom fighter and becomes impregnated by a foreign ISIS terrorist. Under your idea their offspring would be eligible to run for the POTUS.
IDK about you but I'm not ok with that thought. Cruz? No thank you.
For all the people who say YES just because his mother was a US citizen think about this. I'm assuming you are also saying YES to a situation where a female US "freedom fighter" who is a US citizen leaves the country to become a freedom fighter and becomes impregnated by a foreign ISIS terrorist. Under your idea their offspring would be eligible to run for the POTUS.
IDK about you but I'm not ok with that thought. Cruz? No thank you.
United States Congress, “An act to establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization” (March 26, 1790)
And the children of citizens of the United States that may be born beyond Sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born Citizens: Provided, that the right of citizenship shall not descend to persons whose fathers have never been resident in the United States.
This is the only time the term has ever been used in legislation and this was passed by basically the same men who approved the Constitution. The legislation was replaced five years later and the term was dropped...
...and the children of citizens of the United States, born out of the limits and jurisdiction of the United States, shall be considered as citizens of the United States.
...but it seems clear that the founders considered these children to have full citizenship.
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