Ted Cruz releases birth certificate
(CNN) - As Ted Cruz's profile has skyrocketed in the last year–thanks to his election to the U.S. Senate and an attention-grabbing itinerary to early presidential voting states–the Texas Republican's eligibility for president has come under question.
Born in Canada to a U.S. mother and a Cuban father, most legal experts have said Cruz qualifies as a "natural-born citizen," a requirement for the White House job, as stated in the Constitution.
[twitter-follow screen_name='politicalticker'] [twitter-follow screen_name='KilloughCNN']
And Cruz seems to agree. He told ABC News in July that he's not "going to engage in a legal debate."
"The facts are clear," he continued. "I can tell you where I was born and who my parents were. And then as a legal matter, others can worry about that. I'm not going to engage."
But he will release his birth certificate. In fact, he already has.
The Dallas Morning News ran a story late Sunday analyzing Cruz's documents, which he released to the newspaper on Friday.
Legal experts told the paper that Cruz is not only eligible for president in the United States, he's also technically a Canadian citizen and can even run for Parliament. Unless he renounces his citizenship there, he could also obtain a Canadian passport, according to the Dallas Morning News.
The senator's office, however, said Cruz has never embraced his legal rights in Canada, a country that he left when he was four.
"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," spokeswoman Catherine Frazier told the newspaper. "To our knowledge, he never had Canadian citizenship, so there is nothing to renounce."
The recent debate has invoked the controversial "birther" movement that questioned President Barack Obama's eligibility for president. He put the issue to rest in 2011 when he released his long-form birth certificate proving he was born in Hawaii–though a small amount of conspiracists still maintain doubt about the president's place of birth.
Cruz will attend a GOP fundraiser in New Hampshire on Friday. Earlier this summer, he traveled to Iowa twice and stopped in South Carolina in May. All three states typically hold the first three contests in the presidential primary process.
- CNN's Z. Byron Wolf contributed to this report.
I bet the Birth Certificate is fake right teabaggers. Let's get Donald Trump to send his crack teams of investigators to Texas.
The Canadian born McCarthy/cross has become the new mutant from TX! Priceless.
JustaGuy: "Obama was born in Kenya, not in the U.S. Just go ask the local Kenyan towns people where he was born as they have all sworn to this fact."
Hahahaha, too funny. Right. So I'm the same age as Obama, born and raised in an ordinary middle class American town. You could scour the earth and not find an actual eye witness that I was born there. My siblings could attest to the fact that I came home from the hospital, but you can be sure that no unrelated neighbor would have the slightest memory of some stranger's birth 52 years in the past. The very idea is ridiculous. It's not as if he was born president.
Birthers will believe anything.
Sorry, this guy was not born in this country and is not eligible. I am a conservative republican and could not support ANY candidate that does not qualify as a citizen born on us soil or at a US Military or foreign service facility.
Sounds like a foreigner to me. And from a place that speaks French. Where are the birthers when you need them?
Mike,Albany
Wow, maybe this will finally shut up the weak-minded tea party members who STILL claim Obama is ineligible to be the POTUS.
------------
Actually, I think it will shut them up. They just simply won't discuss any questions about Cruz' citizenship status. That's what the right wing does. They ignore unfavorable issues until it goes away, preferably by deflecting attention elsewhere and chatter incessantly about that.
If the Cruz citizenship issue resurfaces down the road, they will simply point back to the self-serving article in the TX paper and tell you that the issue was settled years ago. That was the whole point of the Cruz team's self serving press release to the paper in the first place. To establish fiction as fact.
I am a Texan and totally ashamed at Ted Cruz. He is a disgrace as a Texan and as an American. He thinks Veterans should not get any special medical care, he has refused to visit wounded troops at the Army hospital in San Antonio saying it isn't something he would feel right in doing. He would be better off in North Korea and some other country
Cruz, is a Canadian. His mother had moved to Canada to live with his father who was a Canadian Citizen, therefore since she moved to Canada and then gave birth this child (Cruz) is not a Citizen of the U.S. If she had been on vacation, working there or been in U.S. Military Stationed there, then Cruz would have automatically been a U.S. Citizen. This is common knowledge, and should not require heavy debate. CRUZ IS NOT ELIGIBLE TO BECOME PRESIDENT OF AMERICA, BECAUSE HE IS NOT A NATURAL BORN CITIZEN. THIS IS A FACT! McCain was born in Panama while parent was serving in U.S. Military therefore McCain is considered Natural Born Citizen, DIFFERENCE BIRTH SITUATION BETWEEN CRUZ & McCAIN. I'm street lawyer, with a third grade education, therefore I know the law & constitution
One of the reasons that people questioned Obama was because one of his autobiographies was marketed as being by and about a foriegn exchange student from Kenya. You can blame the publishing company for that one.
Although obama released his "birth certificate", it looked nothing like I have never seen even though he is a legal citizen due to his mother.
This guy's profile has "skyrocketed"? Remember Icarus? Flew too close to the sun and plummeted to Earth!!!
What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander! That's right, Cruz, I'm callin' you a gander!
No worries this clown will never get past the GOP Primaries. A one hit wonder. I am waiting for the show. To see Christie, Paul , Rubio and this clown go after each other will be better than watching cage fighting. This is why Preibus does not want the GOP debates on mainstream TV
O boy needs to prove his birth. Why did he try to enroll at Columbia as a foreign student? Hmmm seems fishy.
Let me get this straight. Ted Cruz was born in Canada and has only one parent who is a US citizen, and he is eligible to be President. President Obama was born on US soil (Hawaii) and one parent was a US citizen, but if he was born in Kenya, which birthers claim, he would not be eligible to be President even though Ted Cruz is eligible under the exact same circumstances?
Citizenship laws and rules differ from country to country. My post isn't about if Mr Cruz or President Obama should or shouldn't be allowed to hold office, it is just a few notes about citizenship.
Some countries (like Canada and the United States) will recognize people born in foreign countries if one of their parents is a citizen.
Some countries don't even recognize people born on their own soil as a citizen. In some cases it depends on what status the parents had when the child was born, like a temporary student, military or work visa versus a permanent resident status, (or being in the country illegaly).
As a previous poster mentioned, some countries make a child chose which country he/she will be a citizen of when they become an adult, as they do not recognize multiple citenzhips. Others, recognize duel/mutli citizenship.
Canada will recognize Mr Cruz as being Canadian since he was born in Canada and they also recognize his duel citizenship since neither of his parents were Canadian. The United States does not recognize duel citenship, as far as US laws go Mr Cruz is American, not Canadian, regardless of where he was born.
Foreign born terrorist. Where's your birth certificate, Cruz? Send this non-American back to his own country.
Sounds like he is Cuban.
loyalright
Although obama released his "birth certificate", it looked nothing like I have never seen even though he is a legal citizen due to his mother.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
How many other 50 year old Hawaiian birth certificates have you seen, and how does the President's look different from those? My birth certificate is like nothing I've ever seen – a 3" x 5" card, embossed and issued by the state of WV in 1963.
JomoDaMusicMan, tailgunner ted would only be a U.S. citizen if he was born on a U.S. military base in Canada. Since we have no miltary bases in Canada, it's a moot point.
Who cares! The person can an atheist from Timbuktu for all I care, just fix this country!
If this wasn't so pathetic it would be funny. Who does this man think he is even considering running for POTUS? I'm from Texas and he is an embarrassment to our state but we are stuck with him until 2018. It's bad enough we are subjected to his idiocy, the rest of the country certainly deserves better than this. Just go away Ted, please!
He is a royal subject and not qualified.
Now I understand why Priebus is avoiding CNN & NBC to carry on debates. He is well aware that Cruz will be grilled both sides on Birth Place.
I bet Cruz's SSN matches the location he received it. I bet there are a half dozen sources to confirm his documents as legit. Cruz is as eligible to be president as anyone and that terrifies the left. Just sayin, you can't embrace a guy who got through school as an exchange student, published biographies claiming he is from a foreign country, who's own wife calls a foreign country her husband's "homeland," and has an SSN that did NOT originate in his state of birth ...but dismiss Ted Cruz as being ineligible. Hypocrite much?