RAFAEL Edward “Ted” Cruz, the Republican Junior Senator from Texas, was born on December 22, 1970, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, to Rafael Cruz, Sr., originally from Cuba, and Eleanor Darragh, who was born in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.
It is reported that Ted Cruz was born a citizen of Canada under the Canadian Citizen Act of 1947, which rendered those born in Canada automatic citizens at birth, unless their parent was a foreign diplomat.
But under the US Immigration and Nationality Act §301(a), now §301(g), and 7 Foreign Affairs Manual 1133.2-2, 1133.3-3, those born on or after December 24, 1952 but before November 14, 1986, whose US citizen parent was physically present in the United States or possession ten (10) years prior to the child’s birth, five (5) of which after age 14, are United States citizens by transmission.
Ted Cruz’s mother was born in the United States, raised in Delaware, graduated from a Catholic high school in the United States, as well as from Rice University in mathematics in Houston, Texas in the 1950’s. So, she transmitted US citizenship to Ted Cruz, even if she were deemed dual United States and Canadian citizen at the time of his birth. Ted Cruz was dual United States and Canadian citizen until he reportedly renounced his Canadian citizenship on May 14, 2014.
Natural born citizenship of Ted Cruz:
Neither the 1789-ratified United States Constitution nor the 1868-ratified Fourteenth Amendment thereto defines natural born citizen, even as Article 11, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution requires natural born citizen to be eligible to the Office of President. Aforesaid Fourteenth Amendment classifies US citizens as: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States….” It does not specifically include those born abroad. Since Ted Cruz was not born in the United States, is he a naturalized US citizen?
But the First US Congress, some of whose members were also Framers of the Constitution, in the Naturalization Act of 1790, Ch. 3, 1 Stat. 103, explicitly recognized that children born abroad to US citizens were US citizens at birth and “natural born citizens” as follows: “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 natural born Citizens: Provided, that the right of citizenship shall not descend to persons whose fathers have never been resident in the United States”.
The purpose of the “natural born citizen” clause was, according to Justice Joseph Story in his Commentaries On The Constitution of the United States, §1473, at 333 (1833) was to “cut off all chances for ambiguous foreigners, who might otherwise be intriguing for the office; and to interpose a barrier against those corrupt interferences of foreign governments in executive elections.”
Indeed, in the July 25, 1787 letter of John Jay, the future first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, to George Washington, he suggested: “whether it would not be wise and & reasonable to provide a … strong check to the admission of Foreigners into the administration of our national government; and to declare expressly that the Command in Chief of the American army shall not be given to, nor devolve on, any but a natural born Citizen.”
Lastly, the United States Constitution was framed after English common law in effect at that time. William Blackstone in his 1 Commentaries 354-63, defined natural born subjects as those born within the dominions of England, as amended by statute, citing Statute, 25 Edw. 111, St. 2 (1350) that stated: “All children born abroad, provided both parents were at the time of the birth in allegiance to the king and the mother had passed the seas by her husband’s consent, might inherit as if born in England.” And several more modern English statutes made “all children born out of the king’s allegiance, whose fathers were natural born subjects, are now natural-born subjects themselves.”
Conclusion:
Is the issue whether Ted Cruz is a natural born US citizen a settled matter? No, in the sense that there is no final decision by the US Supreme Court on the matter. Indeed, there is a strong contrary opinion that Congress has no power to expand natural born citizenship to those born abroad, only a Constitutional amendment can do that, despite English common law and statute at the time of the framing of the Constitution in 1787 that included those born abroad as if born in England.
But is derivative citizenship by transmission from a US citizen parent considered natural born citizenship? Yes, because it is citizenship at birth and not through the Department of Homeland Security’s naturalization process.
In the ultimate analysis, various legal commentaries on the subject matter as well as US immigration and citizenship law and regulations validate Ted Cruz’s claim that he is a natural born US citizen eligible for the Office of the President.
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The Author, Roman P. Mosqueda, has practiced Real Estate law for over 20 years. He has been a licensed Real Estate Broker in California since 1999. Send comments [email protected] or call (213) 252-9481 for free consultation appointment. Visit Mosquedalaw.com and EzineArticles.com to read his other articles.
