The Post & Email Continues to Seek Documentation on Ted Cruz

TWO NEW REQUESTS MADE; ONE PENDING

by Sharon Rondeau

(Mar. 14, 2016) — On March 4, 2016, The Post & Email sent a letter by certified mail to Texas governor Greg Abbott seeking any documentation demonstrating that presidential candidate Ted Cruz claimed U.S. citizenship during his career in public service, including while as Texas Solicitor General.

On Saturday, we received the green card signifying that our letter had been delivered and  acknowledged. We requested of Abbott, who has officially endorsed Cruz for president, a response given that a multitude of FOIA requests made to both the state of Texas and the U.S. government have yielded no documents which asked the applicant, in this case, Cruz, whether or not he possessed U.S. citizenship.

On August 19, 2013, The Dallas Morning News published what it said was a copy of Cruz’s birth certificate showing that he was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on December 22, 1970 to parents Rafael Bienvenido Cruz, originally from Cuba; and Eleanor Elizabeth Wilson, originally from Wilmington, Delaware.

Article II, Section 1, clause 5 of the U.S. Constitution requires the president and commander-in-chief to be a “natural born Citizen,” a term which was not precisely defined anywhere in the founding documents. However, historical research has shown that dating to the time in which the Constitution was written, a child’s citizenship was determined by that of his father.  Congressional law later provided, through 1922, that an immigrant woman who married a U.S. citizen automatically assumed the citizenship status of her husband.

Over the years, most Americans have understood the “natural born Citizen” clause to mean that the person was born in the United States. A number of presidential candidates’ eligibility has been questioned over the last several decades, most often surrounding the candidate’s birthplace outside of the U.S. rather than his parents’ citizenship.

The “natural born Citizen” requirement is imposed only on the president, while U.S. representatives and senators are required to be “Citizens,” meaning that they could have been naturalized, a process formulated by congressional act as stated in Article I of the Constitution.

Cruz was not born in the United States and appears to have had one U.S.-citizen parent as opposed to two, which was the case when potential presidential candidate Lowell P. Weicker questioned his own eligibility in 1968, having been born in France to U.S.-citizen parents.  The eligibility of George Romney, who was born in Mexico to U.S.-citizen parents, was also questioned that same year.

Weicker ultimately decided not to run, and Romney, who had served as governor of Michigan, did not receive the Republican nomination.

Cruz claims that because he never had to go through a “naturalization” process, he is a “natural born Citizen.”  Neither Cruz’s Senate office nor his campaign has responded to eligibility and citizenship questions posed by this publication.

In 2012, Cruz ran for the U.S. Senate without informing his would-be constituents that he was at best a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen and still possessed Canadian citizenship. When The News broke its story in August 2013, his senatorial office denied that he had ever held Canadian citizenship.

The media has not researched the circumstances of the inclusion of the “natural born Citizen” clause as suggested by Founding Father John Jay to George Washington in a July 25, 1787 letter expressing concern that the nation’s chief executive should be free of any potential foreign influence.

Sen. John McCain’s eligibility was questioned in 2000, when he unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination, and again in 2008 when he received the nomination and ran against Barack Hussein Obama, whose constitutional eligibility was questioned and remains unanswered.

McCain was born in Panama to U.S.-citizen parents.  Obama claimed a birth in Hawaii to a U.S.-citizen mother and British-citizen father, although reported that he was born with dual citizenship with Kenya and the U.S.  Some constitutional scholars believe that Obama’s foreign-citizen father should have been enough to disqualify him from consideration as a “natural born Citizen,” regardless of where he was born.

Following the launch of a criminal investigation in September 2011, Obama’s “long-form” birth certificate, posted on the White House website in April of that year and stating that he was born in Honolulu, HI on August 4, 1961, was declared a “computer-generated forgery,” along with his Selective Service registration form.

Neither Congress nor the media would investigate the claim. When the investigative body, the Maricopa County Cold Case Posse led by Michael Zullo, and Maricopa County Sheriff Joseph M. Arpaio, who commissioned the probe, gave a second press conference in July 2012, some in the mainstream media attacked the messengers and derided their message.

As The Post & Email has reported, it has submitted document requests to the Alberta Vital Statistics agency, the State Bar of Texas, the Texas Board of Licensure, the U.S. State Department, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the U.S. Department of Education, and the Selective Service System for documentation about Cruz’s background and possible citizenship status at the time any documents might have been filed.

The only federal agency providing responsive documents was the Selective Service System, which enclosed a one-page form bearing Cruz’s registration, reporting that the document was generated by his application for federal financial aid for college submitted in 1988.

The Department of Education declined to release any documentation, citing privacy laws.

The Texas State Board of Licensure responded that as it retains records for five years only and Cruz’s law license was granted in 1997, it possesses no responsive documents.

The State Bar of Texas provided a responsive document in the form of Cruz’s Bar registration card, which did not contain a question concerning citizenship.  The Texas public information officer provided Cruz’s application for the Solicitor General post, which do not ask as to the applicant’s citizenship.

Last April, The Post & Email wrote a letter to the Cruz campaign, also sent by certified mail with proof of delivery returned, requesting that he release, or authorize The Post & Email to obtain, documentation held by government agencies concerning his history. We received no response.

The Post & Email additionally contacted the media spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee (RNC) on two occasions regarding the Constitution’s “natural born Citizien” y requirement but received no response.

A FOIA request filed with the U.S. Department of Justice last April seeking any documents Cruz might have signed while working as deputy assistant attorney general between 2001 and 2003 received a written response but no documents to date. Late last month, The Post & Email followed up with our contact person, who replied that gathering any responsive documents would require 12-16 additional weeks.

While appearing as a guest on March 4 on the WheresObamasBirthCertificate.com (WOBC) radio show, a caller suggested to this writer that as a former federal employee, Cruz would have been required to complete an “SF 171,” which happens to ask the applicant whether or not he or she is a U.S. citizen. In addition, the form asserts that U.S. citizenship is required for virtually all government employment and requests proof of same.

On March 10, The Post & Email made the following request to the U.S. Department of Justice:

Hello, I would like to request the following under the Freedom of Information Act:

An “SF-171” form, which is a federal employment application, completed and signed by Rafael Edward “Ted” Cruz for employment within the U.S. Department of Justice.

Mr. Cruz was employed there between 2001 and 2003 as an assistant deputy attorney general.  He also worked for the Federal Trade Commission prior to working for Justice.

I understand that if the document is releasable under FOIA, necessary redactions of personal information will be made.

I am requesting a fee waiver as a member of the media and for the value the document will have in informing the American people about a presidential candidate.

Thank you very much.

Sharon Rondeau, Editor
The Post & Email
www.thepostemail.com
P.O. Box 113
Canterbury, CT  06331-0113
Phone/Fax:  203-987-7948

On Monday, we received the following response by email:

On Sunday we wrote to the vital statistics agency in Alberta to request the documents Cruz submitted to renounce his Canadian citizenship in May 2014, nine months after The Dallas Morning News revealed his alleged dual citizenship.  When so renouncing, the Canadian government requires the applicant to affirm that he or she has, or will shortly have, citizenship in another country so as to prevent a stateless status.

We received the following response on Monday evening:

From:	vs@gov.ab.ca
Sent:	Mon 3/14/16 6:36 PM
To:	Sharon Rondeau (editor@thepostemail.com)

Thank you for your inquiry.

We suggest you confirm with the Government of Canada regarding the release of documents pertaining to the renunciation of a person’s Canadian Citizenship. Their contact details can be located on their website at:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/contacts.asp

If you have any further questions please contact:

Ministry of Service Alberta
Vital Statistics
Box 2023
Edmonton AB T5J 4W7
Phone:  780-427-7013
For toll-free access within Alberta first dial 310-0000
Email:  vs@gov.ab.ca

Visit our website at www.servicealberta.ca for comprehensive registries and consumer information and services.

On Monday evening, Ministry of Service Alberta referred us to the official Government of Canada website, to which we submitted the following request, using the media contact address provided:

Hello, I am inquiring as to whether or not documents filed with the Government of Canada renouncing Canadian citizenship can be released under your laws.  I understand that vital statistics records are not releasable without the subject’s written consent.

As a member of the U.S. media, I am seeking documents filed with your government by Rafael Edward “Ted” Cruz, who was born in Calgary, Alberta on December 22, 1970 and, according to major media reports, held Canadian citizenship until June 2014.

The renunciation forms were reportedly filed on May 14, 2014.

I am willing to pay necessary costs for retrieving, copying and mailing but am willing to take electronic delivery if the documents are releasable.

Thank you very much for your consideration.

Sharon Rondeau, Editor
The Post & Email
www.thepostemail.com
P.O. Box 113
Canterbury, CT  06331-0113

We received the following response:

From:	CIC-Media-Relations (CIC-Media-Relations@cic.gc.ca) This sender is in your safe list.
Sent:	Mon 3/14/16 7:56 PM
To:	Sharon Rondeau (editor@thepostemail.com)

*****Version française plus bas*****

Thank you for your e-mail. You have contacted the Media Relations section of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

If you are a journalist and your request is media related, we will get back to you as soon as possible. Please note that this inbox is monitored Monday to Friday from 8:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. EST except for holidays and exceptional circumstances.

• If you are a journalist requesting information regarding a case, please email Media Relations CIC-Media-Relations@cic.gc.ca and request a consent form.
Please provide us with each person’s full name as it appears on their application, their date of birth and country of birth.

• Given our current high volume of media calls, please be advised that we are working diligently on meeting your deadline.

If you are not a journalist and you are seeking general immigration information, please visit our web site www.cic.gc.ca.<http://www.cic.gc.ca./> We will not be responding to your inquiry.

•  If you are inquiring about your case and have a case number, please send an email to question@cic.gc.ca. Please note that this email address is not intended for general enquiries; it is to assist people who have applications in process. All other emails will not receive a response.

•  If you live in Canada and have a case number, you may also call the national call centre at 1-888-242-2100 for help with your questions.

•  If you want to report a case of citizenship or immigration fraud, tips may be reported by email at Citizenship-fraud-tips@cic.gc.ca or by calling our call Centre at 1-888-242-2100. Those overseas can also contact the nearest Canadian visa office.

• All other types of immigration fraud can be reported to the CBSA’s Border Watch Tip Line at 1-888-502-9060. Tips accepted by the Border Watch Tip Line include, but are not limited to, suspicious cross-border activity, marriages of convenience, misrepresentation in any temporary or permanent immigration
application, or the whereabouts of any person wanted on an immigration warrant.

• If you live abroad please contact the local Canadian Embassy for help with your questions. To find an Embassy near you please visit the following link: <http://cic.gc.ca/english/information/offices/index.asp#international>

Sincerely,

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada