I have always wondered if Cruz is really eligible to become President...So does Alan Grayson

[PatrickforO]

Alan Grayson Will Challenge Ted Cruz' Eligibility in Court If He Is Nominated

Firebrand Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) has said that if the Republicans nominate Ted Cruz, he will formally challenge Cruz' eligibility in court. Cruz was born in Canada to an American mother and a Cuban father but U.S. law says that he is an American citizen only if his mother, Eleanor Darragh, met certain residency tests before moving to Canada. The lawsuit would be about whether she could prove she had lived in the U.S. long enough to transmit U.S. citizenship to her son.

Legitimate issues of what the Constitution's "natural-born citizen" actually means have come up before. Sen. John McCain was not born in the United States. He is a Zonian. The 1964 Republican candidate for President, Barry Goldwater, was born in the Arizona territory before it became a state. The issue of citizenship comes up in a less dramatic form all the time because over 6 million Americans live overseas and many are married to people who are not U.S. citizens. If their children apply for a U.S. passport, the question immediately arises if the U.S. parent met the statutory residency requirements, just as it does in Cruz' case. If Cruz is the nominee and Grayson sues, ultimately the U.S. Supreme Court is going to go through Eleanor Darragh's utility bills and school records to determine if Cruz is eligible to run.

Read more:
www.electoral-vote.com

Readers should note that Grayson is a progressive Dem running against an establishment Dem during this primary. He actually compared the Tea Party with the KKK, so he's kind of a firebrand.

[world wide wally]

1. He sure doesn't act like an American

[951-Riverside]

2. He was born in Calgary, Canada

...which is ironic because the right loves to say Obama was born in Kenya.

[yeoman6987]

3. Actually there is another candidate running in Florida. She is impressive.

I hope she wins.

[earthside]

4. It is a serious question ... and ironic.

I travel in some pretty wide circles and a couple of months ago was at a talk on Magna Carta delivered by a very conservative, highy regarded and experienced expert on the U.S. Constitution.

He was asked about the citizenship of Cruz and clearly said that while he liked Cruz's stand on the issue of the day, he firmly believed according to the strict constructionist, original intent interpretation of the Constitution -- Cruz was not qualified to be President.

Ironic, of course, because the Cruz wing of the Repuglican Party is the birther wing.

Frankly, even with my liberal reading of the Constitution, I think it is highly problematic that Cruz is qualified.

No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
Section 1 of Article Two of the United States Constitution

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural-born-citizen_clause

[Nay]

5. The Constitution is subject to interpretation by the Supreme Court, and the Supreme

Court has defined what a natural born citizen is. The US State Department website will tell you what that is, and according to the interpretation, Cruz is a natural born US citizen.

The only odd thing about Cruz' citizenship is that his parents have yet to produce the documents that got Ted his US passport at age 14. All of this shit about whether he's a citizen or not could be stopped cold if they would simply produce that document.

[earthside]

7. I'm not sure about that.

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthright_citizenship_in_the_United_States

Besides, in the case of Cruz it would have to be litigated specifically as it pertains to Presidential eligibility as articulated in Article II, Section 1, Clause 5.

Who knows what this Court would do ... the strict constructionists - original intent partisans like Scalia, Thomas and Alito would likely have no problem in throwing their 'principles' out the window if it could benefit a soulmate like Cruz.

[Nay]

11. Here's the part from Wikipedia that applies to Cruz:

Children born overseas to married parents

The following conditions affect children born outside the U.S. and its outlying possessions to married parents (special conditions affect children born out of wedlock: see below):[11]

If both parents are U.S. citizens, the child is a citizen if either of the parents has ever had a residence in the U.S. prior to the child's birth

If one parent is a U.S. citizen and the other parent is a U.S. national, the child is a citizen if the U.S. citizen parent has lived in the U.S. for a continuous period of at least one year prior to the child's birth

If one parent is a U.S. citizen and the other parent is not, the child is a citizen if the U.S. citizen parent has been "physically present"[12] in the U.S. before the child's birth for a total period of at least five years, and at least two of those five years were after the U.S. citizen parent's fourteenth birthday.[13]

His mother, the US citizen, was physically present in the US (she went to HS and college here) for the required time. It looks like his parents never applied for and received the usual State Dept. document the Consular Report of Birth Abroad), since they haven't produced it. Here's the State Dept. section on this:

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.

According to U.S. law, a CRBA is proof of U.S. citizenship and may be used to obtain a U.S. passport and register for school, among other purposes.

The child’s parents may choose to apply for a U.S. passport for the child at the same time that they apply for a CRBA. Parents may also choose to apply only for a U.S. passport for the child. Like a CRBA, a full validity, unexpired U.S. passport is proof of U.S. citizenship.

Parents of a child born abroad to a U.S. citizen or citizens should apply for a CRBA and/or a U.S. passport for the child as soon as possible. Failure to promptly document a child who meets the statutory requirements for acquiring U.S. citizenship at birth may cause problems for the parents and the child when attempting to establish the child’s U.S. citizenship and eligibility for the rights and benefits of U.S. citizenship, including entry into the United States. By law, U.S. citizens, including dual nationals, must use a U.S. passport to enter and leave the United States.

His parents got him a passport when he was 14, so they must have showed the State Dept. some sort of document, but no one knows what it was. It has never surfaced. You can get a CRBA retroactively, so it's hard to understand why Ted hasn't done this.

[UTUSN]

6. Instead of the word "eligible" I would substitute "fit". n/t

[SickOfTheOnePct]

8. His mother was born in the U.S.

How long does Grayson think she has to live here in order to pass on citizenship?

[Nay]

12. She had to live here a total of five years before the birth of Ted, only 2 of

which could be before she was 14 yrs old. She does qualify, as far as we know, since she went to HS and college in the US. But it's not a foregone conclusion that just because she was born here, her kids are automatically US citizens. That residency requirement is real, and some people will fail it.

[Nye Bevan]

9. Legal consensus is "yes".

http://www.factcheck.org/2015/03/ted-cruzs-presidential-eligibility/

He was a US citizen from birth and did not need to go through naturalization. If an American is working or on vacation abroad and gives birth to a child there, should that child be eligible to be president? Most people (and most legal scholars) would say yes.

[840high]

10. Grayson is wrong.

[tritsofme]

13. It does not surprise me that Grayson is a birther.

Hopefully after he loses his primary next year, we will never hear from this huckster again.

[backscatter712]

14. I don’t care if what Grayson says about Cruz is true or not...

Like LBJ, I just want to hear Cruz deny it.