Thread: More scholars weigh in on whether Ted Cruz is a ‘natural born’ citizen

More scholars weigh in on whether Ted Cruz is a ‘natural born’ citizen
By Jonathan H. Adler January 15 at 9:29 AM


More constitutional law scholars are weighing in on the question of Ted Cruz’s eligibility to be elected president, and most seem to concur with the conclusion that, under the best reading of the phrase “natural born citizen,”Ted Cruz is eligible to be elected President of the United States.

On CNN.com, Yale law professor Akhil Reed Amar, arguably the nation’s most prominent liberal originalist scholar, argues that Cruz is a “natural born citizen,” while also stressing that this is a question for the political process, and not the courts. He writes:

From the founding to the present, Congress has enacted laws specifying that certain categories of foreign-born persons are citizens at birth. The earliest statute, passed in 1790, explicitly called certain foreign-born children of U.S. citizens “natural born citizens.” It did not say they should be treated “as if” they were “natural born citizens.” It said they were in law deemed and declared to be “natural born citizens.” Congressional laws have changed over the years, but this 1790 law makes clear that from the beginning, Congress by law has the power to define the outer boundaries of birth-citizenship by conferring citizenship at birth to various persons born outside the United States.And here is the key point: The statute on the books on the day Cruz was born made him a citizen on that day. . . .Note that the right question to ask is not: What were the natural-born statutory rules in 1788 or 1790? The right question is: What are the natural-born statutory rules on the day a given presidential candidate was born? These statutory rules have changed over the years, and Article II builds these future changes into its elegant language.

Amar’s colleague Jack Balkin believes the question could properly end up in court should state officials refuse to place Cruz on the ballot, but tentatively concludes Cruz is a “natural born citizen.” At Balkinization, he writes:

My own view– admittedly preliminary– is that “natural born citizen” is a legal term of art. It comes from English common law, but it is subject to common law evolution, and therefore it was not fixed for all time in 1788. The best reading of the Eligibility Clause is that “natural born citizen” refers to persons who automatically become citizens at the moment of their birth. But Congress has the power to change (prospectively) who becomes a citizen at birth. If so, then Congress can partially but not completely alter who is a natural born citizen for purposes of Article II.

Harvard law professor Cass Sunstein, not much of an originalist himself, finds it to be a close question, but also reaches the same bottom line.

Under a narrow interpretation, natural born means that you were born within the territorial boundaries of the United States. Under an alternative and broader interpretation, it means that you were a citizen at birth, and did not have to undergo a naturalization process.The text of the Constitution doesn’t exclude either interpretation. The word “natural” might be taken to require birth in the U.S.; in the 18th century, natural was often opposed to “provided by statute” — suggesting that to serve as president, you must have been born in the country, rather than being recognized as a citizen through an act of Congress. But a natural-born citizen might be someone who just is a citizen at the moment of birth, as Cruz plainly was (through the citizenship of his mother). . . .On the merits, I agree with Cruz: The Naturalization Act of 1790 counts in his favor, and because he was a U.S. citizen at birth under U.S. law, the better view is that he is natural born. But University of San Diego constitutional specialist Michael Ramsey, a former law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia, put it well: “It’s a mystery to me why anyone thinks it’s an easy question.”

The Cato Institute’s Ilya Shapiro also agrees Cruz is eligible, and made the case in 2013.
Another originalist, Andrew Hyman, also makes the case for a more expansive understanding of the phrase “natural born.”

Virtually no one disputes that Cruz is a “born citizen,” and the only issue here is what “natural” means. The English lexicographer Samuel Johnson wrote in 1756 that the word “natural” means “native,” and the word “native” in turn means either an “inhabitant” or an “offspring.” So a natural born citizen is someone who was born a citizen by virtue of being an inhabitant of the United States, or (like Cruz) by virtue of being an offspring, just as Coke and Blackstone said. I don’t know if Ted Cruz is the best candidate, but certainly he is a natural born citizen, in my opinion.

Hyman and Michael Ramsey have additional thoughts on the matter, with a focus on Laurence Tribe’s analysis.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...-born-citizen/

Need 2 Citizen parents at birth to be NATURAL BORN CITIZEN,,,,,,why isn't anyone picking on Rubio??????????? He is an Anchor Baby!!!!!!!!!! NO CITIZEN PARENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by grandmasmad

Need 2 Citizen parents at birth to be NATURAL BORN CITIZEN,,,,,,why isn't anyone picking on Rubio??????????? He is an Anchor Baby!!!!!!!!!! NO CITIZEN PARENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did you read the article above? According to most constitutional scholars and legal experts, you do not need two citizen parents at birth to be considered a natural born citizen. Sure, that is one avenue, but there are supposedly others. Surely they can't all be wrong.

Originally Posted by grandmasmad

Need 2 Citizen parents at birth to be NATURAL BORN CITIZEN,,,,,,why isn't anyone picking on Rubio??????????? He is an Anchor Baby!!!!!!!!!! NO CITIZEN PARENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.alipac.us/f9/now-marco-ru...roblem-327433/

More scholars weigh in on whether Ted Cruz is a ‘natural born’ citizen


Everyone can have an opinion

but the only one that matters is the one the U.S. Supreme Court hasn't given yet.

Americans have known what a natural born citizen is for over 227 years. It's a person born in the US to 2 US citizen parents, natural born or naturalized.

Parents do not have to be born here, they have to be citizens, natural born, foreign born, native born, naturalized, whatever allows them to become US citizens. Their children if both parents are US citizens and if born on US soil are natural born citizens under Article II and eligible to be President or Vice President of the United States. Children born in the US to foreign parents would either have or be eligible for citizenship in the country of their parents citizenship, making them ineligible for office under Article II. Children born to one parent who is citizen of another country would have or be eligible for citizenship in the country of that parent making them dual citizens if one parent is a US citizen and they register for citizenship in the US, making them ineligible for office under Article II.

The only children with sole US citizenship without possibility of another by birth are children born in the US to 2 US citizen parents, parents who can be any type of citizen, natural born, naturalized, doesn't matter,both parents just have to be US citizens at the time of birth. Natural born under Article II means tied to the US by virtue of both blood (citizen parents, natural born, statutory or naturalized) and soil, in the USA, and all this has to occur and be in place by or at birth. Parents who later become citizens don't count. Being brought to the country when you're 4 doesn't count.

Cruz, Rubio and Jindal are not natural born citizens and none are eligible to hold the Office of President or Vice President of the United States. Neither is Obama. Neither is McCain. Neither is Haley.

Mitt Romney was eligible because he was born in the US to 2 citizen parents. His father was not eligible because he was born in Mexico, but he was a US citizen as was his wife, so when they came back to the US and had Mitt, Mitt was a natural born citizen. When George Romney ran for President, as the issue was brewing with him, he was trailing Nixon in the polls and dropped out before it festered further.

This isn't complicated. It's very simple. Americans have known this for 227 years.

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

More scholars weigh in on whether Ted Cruz is a ‘natural born’ citizen


Everyone can have an opinion

but the only one that matters is the one the U.S. Supreme Court hasn't given yet.

Yes, but whose opinion carries more weight, a legal expert/scholar on the subject or someone who simply took a government class in college? Honestly, I don't expect the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on this issue (yes, that's an opinion too).

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

More scholars weigh in on whether Ted Cruz is a ‘natural born’ citizen


Everyone can have an opinion

but the only one that matters is the one the U.S. Supreme Court hasn't given yet.

Not really. Once natural born citizen is decided by a Court, it's no longer a natural born citizen status, it's a status by court ruling and thus no longer a blood and soil citizenship, but one granted by a court which can be taken away by a court, just as something granted by law can be taken away by law.

It's just another unnecessary dispute dividing and weakening our country because of non-assimilated immigration, unprocessed diversity and an inexplicable strife for multiculturalism. It's why Barack Obama was made an exception, and elected and inaugurated twice out of both the fear of offending and the insatiable desire for a Black President, so the game was on, nothing could or would stop it, and both the Constitution and Country have paid the price.

We're $19 trillion in debt with over 73 million people on Medicaid. The world is in another Global Recession. The stock market is crashing. Walmart is closing 269 stores. Boeing is building their next plant in China. Nabisco and Ford are closing US plants and building new and better ones in Mexico. Pfizer is leaving Dallas and moving their massive headquarters to Ireland.

Meanwhile the US government is trying to extradite El Chapo as it writes a check to Iran for $150 billion to fund its takeover of Iraq while our military interrogates the sailors held by Iran and finds out why 2 military aircraft crashed over Hawaii, while someone hopefully is working to find out where the $500 million went the CIA spent training 4 Syrian Rebels and why we bombed a hospital in Afghanistan.

We have 40 million Black Americans who are natural born citizens. We have as many or more Hispanic Americans who are natural born citizens. We do not have to go outside our country system and create natural born citizens out of people who are not natural born citizens to find competent and eligible citizens to run for the offices of President and Vice President.

So why do this when it's not in our best interest?

It's a question Americans will long be asking themselves I assure you.