Texas Senator Ted Cruz renouncing his Canadian citizenship
- Senator Ted Cruz has lawyers working to renounce his Canadian citizenship
- Cruz says he only discovered he had dual U.S.-Canadian citizenship after the Dallas Morning News reported it in August
- Experts say despite his Canadian birth, he is likely to be eligible to run for President
- Cruz met with Donald Trump, a leading voice in the 'birther' movement that questioned President Obama's citizenship
- He said the issue of his birth was raised but 'not in any significant respect'
- 원본출처 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2530938/Texas-Senator-Ted-Cruz-renouncing-Canadian-citizenship.html
By Alex Greig
|
Texas Senator Ted Cruz is taking steps to officially renounce his Canadian citizenship.
He
said in a recent interview, 'I have retained counsel that is preparing
the paperwork to renounce the citizenship,' adding that he expects the
process to be complete sometime in 2014.
The
senator, now in his first term, has said that he was completely unaware
he possessed dual USA and Canadian citizenship until a Dallas newspaper
reported it in August this year.
Canadian: Cruz was born in Canada and has dual citizenship, a fact he claims to have been unaware of
The Dallas Morning News reported that when Cruz was born, his parents lived in Calgary where his Cuban-born father worked the oil fields.
He lived in Canada until the age of four, when he moved to Texas.
He said his American
mother had understood that it would take affirmative action to claim
Canadian citizenship and that he had never even been aware he possessed
it.
In
actual fact, like the U.S., Canada confers citizenship to anyone born
on its soil, regardless of the nationality of the parents.
Many have questioned Cruz's eligibility to run for President in the future as a result of his foreign birth.
According to Politifact, Cruz - full name Rafael Edward Cruz - most likely is eligible to run.
The
Constitution states that any candidate for president must be a resident
within the US for 14 years and a 'natural born citizen' - but does not
explain what exactly that means.
In
the absence of a Supreme Court ruling on the issue, legal experts have
interpreted the phrase to mean 'citizenship held at birth,' which Cruz
has by virtue of his mother.
The Republican, whose mother is American and father is Cuban, is taking steps to renounce his Canadian citizenship
Just to be on the safe side, though, Cruz is relinquishing his Canadian citizenship once and for all.
'Serving as a U.S. senator, I think it's appropriate that I be only an American,' he told CNN.
Cruz told the Dallas Morning News that the issue came up when he met with Donald Trump recently.
Trump
famously demanded to see President Obama's birth certificate after
repeatedly speculating that Obama was not a citizen of the United
States.
In
an appearance on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor in 2011, he suggested a
birth certificate would show that the President is Muslim. After seeing
the proof that Obama was indeed born in Hawaii, he continued to raise
questions over its authenticity.
Mr America: Donald Trump speculated about President Obama's citizenship but apparently didn't dwell on Cruz's during a recent meeting between the two
Cruz told the Dallas Morning News that the issue of his birth had come up with Trump, though 'not in any significant respect.'
Trump
insisted Obama may have violated the Constitution despite proof of the
President having been born to a U.S. mother on U.S. soil.
What does he make of Ted Cruz, born to a U.S. mother on Canadian soil?
Cruz declined to comment further, saying 'My political perspective is focused on representing the state of Texas,' he said.