Does Evidence Exist That Ted Cruz is a U.S. Citizen?

SOLICITOR GENERAL APPLICATION FORMS DO NOT ASK THE QUESTION

by Sharon Rondeau

(Oct. 21, 2014) — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who many have speculated is considering a run for the presidency in 2016, was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on December 22, 1970.  According to Canadian law, anyone born within the confines of the country is a Canadian citizen, regardless of the citizenship of the parents at the time of the birth.

During the summer of 2013, The Dallas Morning News featured a scan of Cruz’s birth certificate which the newspaper said it obtained from the senator.  Citing “Canadian legal experts,” the News reported that Cruz was born a dual citizen of Canada and the U.S., the latter because of his U.S.-citizen mother.

According to NPR, Cruz’s father, Rafael Bienvenido Cruz, joined Fidel Castro’s forces against then-Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista and, after he was jailed and physically mistreated by Batista’s allies, managed to obtain an exit visa to the United States, where he eventually was granted political asylum.  He married Cruz’s mother, an American citizen, and the couple went to Canada for eight years.

“Bienvenido” means “welcome” in Spanish.

The elder Cruz became a Canadian citizen, then finally, a U.S. citizen, in 2005.

Cruz’s biography does not state his birthplace.  It is reported that he moved to the U.S. with his parents from Canada to Texas at the age of four.  He graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School and worked in private practice, as a law professor, and as solicitor general under Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott before running for the U.S. Senate.

In regard to the requirements for serving as a U.S. Senator, Article I, Section 3, clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution states that “No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.”

Cruz was elected in 2012 at the age of 42, thereby meeting the age requirement.  From his biography, it appears he resided in Texas more than the minimum of nine years.  To date, however, no documentation has been proffered by Cruz to prove that he was born a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen, as The Dallas Morning News contended.

The Post & Email contacted Cruz’s media representative on October 2 regarding his citizenship status but did not receive a response.

Article II, Section 1, clause 5 of the U.S. Constitution requires that the president and commander-in-chief of the military be a “natural born Citizen,” which indicates a higher standard than simply “a Citizen” as designated for members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.

Before the Constitution was ratified, John Jay wrote a letter to George Washington in which he stated, “Permit me to hint, whether it would not be wise & seasonable to provide a strong check to the admission of Foreigners into the administration of our national Government; and to declare expresly that the Command in chief of the american army shall not be given to, nor devolve on, any but a natural born Citizen.”  It is believed that Jay’s intent was to preclude the person holding the highest office in the nation to be affected by foreign allegiances or influence.

in 2008, questions regarding the eligibility of Sens. John McCain and Barack Hussein Obama arose given that McCain was born in Panama to two U.S.-citizen parents, and Obama claimed to have been born in Hawaii to a U.S.-citizen mother and Kenyan-citizen father.  In a discussion of Cruz’s potential run for the presidency and any citizenship questions, on August 21, 2013, CBC News reported that “2008 presidential contenders Barack Obama and John McCain both had to contend with questions about their birth, Obama because his father was born in Kenya and McCain because he was born on a U.S. naval air station in the Panama Canal zone.”

American media have refused to discuss the questions surrounding Obama’s presidential eligibility, including the fact that the long-form birth certificate image posted on the White House website as pressure mounted for Obama to prove his claimed birth in Hawaii.

At the beginning of this month, The Post & Email contacted the Republican National Committee (RNC) in regard to the “natural born Citizen” requirement given the appearance of Cruz, Gov. Bobby Jindal, and Gov. Nikki Haley in an online poll for preferred presidential candidates.  It has been reported that Jindal and Haley were both born in the U.S. but to parents with then-foreign citizenship, as is the case with Sen. Marco Rubio.

“Birthright citizenship” in the United States is reported to be a misinterpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment, which reads, in relative part (emphasis The Post & Email’s):

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Children born in the U.S. to foreign diplomats are not granted U.S. citizenship; rather, they are born citizens of their parents’ country.

The CBC conflated “law” with the U.S. Constitution when it reported that “To be president, the U.S. Constitution stipulates one must be ‘a natural born citizen,’ but that designation applies to someone born outside the U.S. if he or she has at least one American parent, according to U.S. law.”

The Naturalization Act of 1795 states, in part (emphasis The Post & Email’s):

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, that the children of persons duly naturalized, dwelling within the United States, and being under the age of twenty-one years at the time of such naturalization, 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. Provided, that the right of citizenship shall not descend on persons whose fathers have never been resident of the United States. No person heretofore proscribed by any state, or who has been legally convicted of having joined the army of Great Britain during the late war, shall be admitted as foresaid, without the consent of the legislature of the state in which such person was proscribed.

On August 18, 2013, The Dallas Morning News reported that “Born in Canada to an American mother, Ted Cruz became an instant U.S. citizen. But under Canadian law, he also became a citizen of that country the moment he was born.”

On January 3 of this year, The Canadian News reported that Ted Cruz had not yet renounced his Canadian citizenship, identifying him as “a dual citizen,” which Cruz reportedly did not contest.  The article also stated that “Under U.S. law, a child born to an American parent gets automatic citizenship even if the birthplace is beyond U.S. borders. Canada, like the United States, also gives automatic citizenship to anyone born on its soil.”

As has The Post & Email, the CBC noted that “On his Senate website, Cruz’s biography mentions where his parents were born but not his own birthplace.”

In June, Cruz renounced his Canadian citizenship.  In an editorial by JB Williams published at approximately the same time, the question of whether or not Cruz ever had or now has U.S. citizenship was raised.

Today, the U.S. State Department states that “A child born abroad to a U.S. citizen parent or parents may acquire U.S. citizenship at birth if certain statutory requirements are met.  The child’s parents should contact the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate to apply for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States of America (CRBA) to document that the child is a U.S. citizen. If the U.S. embassy or consulate determines that the child acquired U.S. citizenship at birth, a consular officer will approve the CRBA application and the Department of State will issue a CRBA, also called a Form FS-240, in the child’s name.”

Through a Texas Public Information request placed on October 6, The Post & Email acquired the applications Cruz was required to complete to be considered for the position of “Assistant Attorney General,” which included Solicitor General.  Nowhere in the forms is the applicant asked if he or she is a U.S. citizen.

The PDF of the documents received from the Public Information Officer is here:  Ted Cruz Solicitor General Applications

On Tuesday evening, The Post & Email submitted a FOIA request to the U.S. State Department for “a copy of a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA), or Form FS-240, for Rafael Edward Cruz, born December 22, 1970, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada” to which we received an auto-reply.