U.S. Citizen Born Abroad: Consular Record “Is My Birth Certificate”

“WITHOUT THAT, CRUZ COULD REALLY BE ANYBODY”

by Sharon Rondeau

(May 2, 2016) — In the midst of questions arising as to why presidential candidate Ted Cruz, U.S. Senator from Texas, has produced no documentation to support his claim that he was born a U.S. citizen in Canada in December 1970, author, former congressional candidate and former Hawaii resident Miki Booth provided a copy of her birth certificate, prepared by the American consulate in Sapporo, Japan, indicating that she was a U.S. citizen born abroad.

The certificate was sent to The Post & Email by surface mail and returned in the same manner.

Booth was born on December 18, 1949 in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan while her father, Thomas William Snyder, Jr., was stationed there in the U.S. Marine Corps.

The oversized “Report of Birth” document contains the heading, “Child Born Abroad of American Parent or Parents.”

Miki’s formal name is “Miyuki,” and she and an older brother were born in Japan.  Her mother and father were first married in 1949 in a Japanese ceremony, with a second ceremony conducted at the U.S. Consulate in 1951 prior to the family’s departure for the United States.

During that era, the U.S. Foreign Service, a division of the Department of State, denoted an individual’s race as “Caucasian, Malay, Negroid, Indian, or Mongolian,” the latter of which was later replaced with the term “Asian.”

Cruz has presented only a Canadian birth certificate and renunciation of his Canadian citizenship to document his history.  On Saturday, Cruz’s wife referred to her husband as “an immigrant.” Article II, Section 1, clause 5 of the U.S. Constitution requires that the president be a “natural born Citizen,” which has generally been understood to mean “born in the United States.”  Cruz’s fellow Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, has openly questioned Cruz’s eligibility because of his birth in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

A number of ballot challenges and lawsuits have been filed alleging that Cruz is ineligible to serve as president.  While some legal scholars believe he is eligible because of his claimed birth to a U.S.-citizen mother, others disagree.

Cruz has equated “citizen at birth” to the constitutional term “natural born Citizen” by invoking the 1790 Naturalization Act without disclosing that the statute was repealed five years later.

In an interview on Monday, The Post & Email asked Booth how often she has been asked over the course of her lifetime to produce the “Record of Birth” she shared with us.  “That is my birth certificate,” Booth responded.  “I think people don’t understand the importance of the CRBA; that’s what they call it now.  That’s what that is.  Whatever Japanese records I had have never came into play, and we don’t even have them now.  That is my birth certificate, and that’s what I used to get my driver’s license, my passport or anything.  That is my birth certificate.”

“CRBA” is an abbreviation for “Consular Record of Birth Abroad,” which is issued to children born to U.S. citizens in foreign countries after the parent(s) reports it.

Booth’s document contains a line for the official to indicate whether or not each parent is “Naturalized (if foreign born)”.

In February, another reader of The Post & Email supplied his or her birth registration document recording the birth in Germany to two U.S.-citizen parents, one of whom was serving in the U.S. Army at the time.  “I am naturalized,” the owner of the document told us; “that is all Ted Cruz is.”

Similarly, Maine Governor Paul LePage revealed just prior to his state’s Republican caucus in early March that two of his daughters were born in Canada while he and his wife were employed there and that they were “naturalized,” not “natural born.” “I’ve already looked into it,” LePage told Boston-based radio host Howie Carr on March 3.

Speaking of Cruz, Booth told us, “Just because his mother is an American does not necessarily make him an American citizen; she had to have registered the record of birth with the American Consulate to prove that he’s an American citizen.  Without that, he could really be anybody.”

The Post & Email asked Miki why her parents went through a second wedding ceremony at the consulate, to which she responded, “Because that’s the only thing that the Americans would accept.  They didn’t accept my Japanese birth certificate.  Even though there is more strength in my father having served in the military overseas, he still had to record the foreign birth.”

“My dad was being sent home and wanted to take us back to the U.S.  In order for my mother, my older brother and me to enter the United States, we had to go through the processes,” Booth said, referring to the U.S. consulate wedding ceremony and birth registrations for herself and her brother.  “My birth record was needed to get my passport.”

“All Ted Cruz has to show is a Canadian birth certificate,” she commented.  “Do you believe that means that he was not a U.S. citizen growing up?” The Post & Email asked, to which she responded, “That’s what I believe. To me, he’s not an American citizen.  He may be now, but it doesn’t appear that he’s ever been naturalized.  Where is the proof that his mother registered his birth in a foreign country?  I believe that they just drove over the border.  The only proof is that he is a Canadian citizen with a Canadian birth certificate.  He can’t prove that he is an American citizen born abroad.”

“Just because my father is an American didn’t make me an American; he had to register my birth, and that became my birth certificate.  It’s really that simple,” Booth added.  “If my father hadn’t registered me, all I would have had would have been a Japanese birth certificate.  Anything that I would have gotten would always refer back to the information on that Japanese birth certificate.”

“I didn’t get an American birth certificate until I was naturalized,” Booth summarized. “On my passport, it asks for ‘country of birth,’ and it says ‘Japan.’  It will show where you’re born.  So on Cruz’s passport, it should say ‘Canada.'”

Booth said that she believes that if a person is naturalized to a country other than the birth country, there is a “paper trail” which is cross-checked to verify the issuance of a passport.

“My father’s being a serviceman was a higher standard than what Cruz has.  With the CRBA becoming my birth certificate, any Japanese documents become null and void.  Had Cruz’s birth been registered and he had proof of it, that would have made his Canadian birth certificate null and void.  The CRBA is most important.  We’re talking foreign country; we’re talking intrigue,” Booth opined.  “When dealing with a foreign country, we don’t simply accept what someone says.  Where’s your proof?”

In Federalist 68, titled “The Mode of Electing the President,” Founding Father Alexander Hamilton used the word “intrigue” to enumerate various potential threats to the new nation and its “chief magistrate.”

Booth said that she is considered a naturalized U.S. citizen, but because of her birth registration as a U.S. citizen born overseas, she did not have to go through the formal naturalization process set forth by Congress for legal immigrants.

“You’re native born, natural born, and you’re naturalized. That’s all there is; there are no more categories,” she said.

Booth’s four younger siblings were born at various places in the United States, but since her mother did not become a U.S. citizen, she said none of them would qualify as a “natural born Citizen” eligible to the presidency.

Booth said that she believes that the American people are under a false impression regarding Cruz’s presumed eligibility.  “It’s obvious that he is slapping us in the face and people say, ‘Oh, no, he’s a natural born Citizen because his mother was.'”