Ted Cruz releases his birth certificate (he's a dual citizen!)

[mota bhai 2,675]

WASHINGTON — 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.

Unless the Texas Republican senator formally renounces that citizenship, he will remain a citizen of both countries, legal experts say.
That means he could assert the right to vote in Canada or even run for Parliament. On a lunch break from the U.S. Senate, he could head to the nearby embassy — the one flying a bright red maple leaf flag — pull out his Calgary, Alberta, birth certificate and obtain a passport.

“He’s a Canadian,” said Toronto lawyer Stephen Green, past chairman of the Canadian Bar Association’s Citizenship and Immigration Section.

The circumstances of Cruz’s birth have fueled a simmering debate over his eligibility to run for president. Knowingly or not, dual citizenship is an apparent if inconvenient truth for the tea party firebrand, who shows every sign he’s angling for the White House.

“Senator Cruz became a U.S. citizen at birth, and he never had to go through a naturalization process after birth to become a U.S. citizen,” said spokeswoman Catherine Frazier. “To our knowledge, he never had Canadian citizenship, so there is nothing to renounce.”

The U.S. Constitution allows only a “natural born” American citizen to serve as president. Most legal scholars who have studied the question agree that includes an American born overseas to an American parent, such as Cruz.

The Constitution says nothing about would-be presidents born with dual citizenship.

...

Until 1947, people born in Canada were British subjects. The system Canada adopted after that closely mirrors that of the U.S.

Both confer citizenship automatically to anyone born on their territory, and to children of citizens even when the birth takes place overseas.

...

“If a child was born in the territory, he is Canadian, period,” said France Houle, a law professor at the University of Montreal. “He can ask for a passport. He can vote.”

The fact that Cruz left Canada when he was 4 doesn’t affect his status there, either.

“If you leave when you’re 2 minutes old, you’re still an American. It’s the same in Canada,” said Allison Christians, a law professor at McGill University in Montreal. “He’s a Canadian citizen.”

...

“They can feel as American as they want. But the question of citizenship is determined by the law of the territory in which you were physically born,” [Christians] said. “It’s not up to the Cruz family to decide whether they’re citizens.”

...

Unlike the U.S., which requires its citizens to pay taxes no matter where they live in the world, Canada only taxes people who reside there.
So there’s rarely much reason to relinquish Canadian citizenship.

...

The relinquishment process is easy enough. It can take from a few weeks to a year. There’s a four-page form with a $100 fee. Applicants must appear before a special judge to prove they have citizenship elsewhere and aren’t engaged in fraud.

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20130818-born-in-canada-ted-cruz-became-a-citizen-of-that-country-as-well-as-u.s..ece

[Jacque67 7,328]

Does he get tax free overseas bonuses?

[mota bhai 2,675]

Dude, what does that even mean?

[Karee 4,190]

Does he get tax free overseas bonuses?

I think you secretly love Gary.

[Jacque67 7,328]

I think you secretly love Gary.

Hey I am his official tickler

[Darnell 8,478]

Natural born - when I was a teenager - that always meant born in the USA or a US military base overseas.

Is someone stirring the pot, trying to get that definition shifted a bit?

Ted not qualify, right?

Edited August 19, 2013 by Darnell

[mota bhai 2,675]

Natural born - when I was a teenager - that always meant born in the USA.

Do you have caselaw you can cite?

Ted not qualify, right?

He qualify to be President of the USA and Prime Minister of Canada. He create new nation, from banks of Rio Grande to the Arctic. He great man.

[decocker 7,198]

schwarzenegger 2016. makes this happen people.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Natural born - when I was a teenager - that always meant born in the USA or a US military base overseas.

Is someone stirring the pot, trying to get that definition shifted a bit?

Ted not qualify, right?

I think only in your mind it meant that.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/politics/28mccain.html?_r=0

From left, LOWELL P. WEICKER JR., of Connecticut, born in Paris, was told he was eligible for the Oval Office. GEORGE ROMNEY, born in Mexico, ran for the presidency in 1968. BARRY GOLDWATER was born in the Arizona territory in 1909, before it became a state. CHESTER A. ARTHUR was born in Vermont, but rumors suggested it was Canada.

Edited August 19, 2013 by Harpa Timsah

[mota bhai 2,675]

I think only in your mind it meant that.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/politics/28mccain.html?_r=0

That article is from 2008. Darnell was a teeenager way before that. Legend has it, in the late 1800's.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

That article is from 2008. Darnell was a teeenager way before that. Legend has it, in the late 1800's.

The article includes an historical survey. You didn't read it, did you? Did you know that articles from a certain date can discuss things that happened before the article was written? One example involves a birth from 1829, before Darnell was a teenager in the late 1800s.

[mota bhai 2,675]

The article includes an historical survey. You didn't read it, did you? Did you know that articles from a certain date can discuss things that happened before the article was written? One example involves a birth from 1829, before Darnell was a teenager in the late 1800s.

Chester Arthur? Born in Vermont. Irrelevant.

[Jacque67 7,328]

Chester Arthur? Born in Vermont. Irrelevant.

Vermont is irrelevant ?

[mota bhai 2,675]

To this conversation, yes.

Actually, to any conversation. Unless it's about ice cream. Or MRIs.

[decocker 7,198]

i do not believe in vermont.