General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Ted Cruz was born in Calgary, Canada. [View all]alcibiades_mystery
(36,437 posts)I was born overseas to a US citizen mother and foreign national father. I was issued a "US citizen born abroad" birth certificate by the US embassy in that country immediately. Indeed, I am not eligible to be a citizen of the country I was born in, because neither of my parents are citizens of that country, and the country has a language-requirement for citizenship (I don't speak the language).
In any case, these laws changed in the early 60's, which is what the birthers yabber about; it didn't used to be the case that you were "natural born" if your mother(!!!) was a (minor) citizen and you were born abroad (with the exception of trips, military facilities, embassy staff, etc.). That rule changed in the early 60's, when "natural born" citizenship became automatic for anybody born abroad to a US citizen parent, provided applications were made in a timely manner.
I could run for President if I wanted to and be eligible, even though I wasn't born in the United States' borders.