Sen Ted Cruz... Scarry

[Thorne]

His mother was born in Kansas, making her a citizen from birth. Doesn't matter how long she lived in the US, though she did spend her childhood here. I didn't know there was a requirement for a natural born citizen to spend a certain amount of time in the US to maintain their citizenship.

McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone, then a US territory, or under US control, to US citizens, so nothing to quibble about there. Ted Cruz, on the other hand, was born in Canada, to a mother who was a natural born US citizen. His father, on the other hand, was born in Cuba, as a Cuban citizen, and fought for Castro during the revolution there. Legally, therefore, he is a US citizen, through his mother, regardless of his place of birth. By the same token, it doesn't matter where Obama was born, as long as his mother was a US citizen at the time.

Regardless of political affiliation, if you accept Cruz's credentials, you have to accept Obama's. And if you reject Obama's then you have even less reason to accept Cruz's.

[js207]

His mother was born in Kansas, making her a citizen from birth. Doesn't matter how long she lived in the US, though she did spend her childhood here. I didn't know there was a requirement for a natural born citizen to spend a certain amount of time in the US to maintain their citizenship.

Not 'maintain' - to pass it to their children. Simply being the child of a US citizen is not, in itself, sufficient to make you one - which, apart from anything else, is why there is a green card category for 'children of US citizens' - because they are not all automatically citizens themselves.

The requirement at the time was that the mother, to quote USCIS, must have been: "physically present in the U.S. or its territories for a period of at least ten years at some time in his or her life prior to the birth, at least five of which were after his or her 14th birthday".

Ted Cruz, on the other hand, was born in Canada, to a mother who was a natural born US citizen. His father, on the other hand, was born in Cuba, as a Cuban citizen, and fought for Castro during the revolution there. Legally, therefore, he is a US citizen, through his mother, regardless of his place of birth. By the same token, it doesn't matter where Obama was born, as long as his mother was a US citizen at the time.

Wrong, as explained above: they would be citizens provided their mothers met the residency requirements. Since she was 18 at the time, Obama's mother could not possibly have met the requirement to be resident in the US for five years after the age of 14. Presumably Cruz's mother does meet the requirement - the US consulate would have checked at the time, otherwise they would have needed to apply for a green card for him when moving back to the US.

[Thorne]

Since she was 18 at the time, Obama's mother could not possibly have met the requirement to be resident in the US for five years after the age of 14.

By that logic, any woman giving birth before the age of 19 could not meet the requirements, even if they'd never left the country. There would have to be more to it than that.

[js207]

By that logic, any woman giving birth before the age of 19 could not meet the requirements, even if they'd never left the country. There would have to be more to it than that.

If they had never left the country, they'd still be in the US so the child would have citizenship from place of birth. If the mother grew up in the US but left before reaching the age of 19, the child would indeed not have US citizenship - like Winston Churchill, as it happens, whose mother was born in New York. (He was the first to be awarded honorary US citizenship, in 1963, but didn't inherit it from his American mother.)

[StrictMasterD]

My undersanding is the age of the Mother is not important, what is is if she was a Nutral Born Citizen of the US if so that is all the is required
Wouldl ovew to see Ted Cruz Certificate to see if he is in fact a US Citizen, if they can Birther Obama lets do the same with Cruz, better yet letsdeal with issues concernig this country

Not 'maintain' - to pass it to their children. Simply being the child of a US citizen is not, in itself, sufficient to make you one - which, apart from anything else, is why there is a green card category for 'children of US citizens' - because they are not all automatically citizens themselves.

The requirement at the time was that the mother, to quote USCIS, must have been: "physically present in the U.S. or its territories for a period of at least ten years at some time in his or her life prior to the birth, at least five of which were after his or her 14th birthday".



Wrong, as explained above: they would be citizens provided their mothers met the residency requirements. Since she was 18 at the time, Obama's mother could not possibly have met the requirement to be resident in the US for five years after the age of 14. Presumably Cruz's mother does meet the requirement - the US consulate would have checked at the time, otherwise they would have needed to apply for a green card for him when moving back to the US.

[js207]

My undersanding is the age of the Mother is not important, what is is if she was a Nutral Born Citizen of the US if so that is all the is required

In which case, your understanding is not correct: I've already quoted the legal requirement above. How do you think a mother aged 18 could have lived in the US for at least five years since the age of 14? I've already explained that being a citizen herself is not enough to make her children citizens as well.