Make the case for Ted Cruz's eligibility for President

By Sylvia Thompson

Ted Cruz recently announced his bid for President of the United States. A caller to the Rush Limbaugh radio show questioned Cruz's constitutional eligibility to be an American President. It does not help the cause of conservatism that Rush Limbaugh, the titular voice of American conservatism, chose to castigate the caller for voicing his opinion regarding Cruz's decision.

Limbaugh had just gone through a lengthy statement about how we conservatives hobble ourselves by seeking "perfection" in our presidential candidates. That statement is not accurate, but Limbaugh has a right to his opinion. We do not seek perfection, but rather adherence to principle. The caller, after stressing great admiration for Ted Cruz's ability to lead the nation, stated his belief that constitutionally, Cruz is not a "natural born" citizen. The sensible thing for Limbaugh to have done is to make the constitutional case that Cruz is eligible. A case can be made, but he chose not to.

What Limbaugh did, much to my irritation and likely that of many other conservative Americans, was to label the caller one of those "searchers for perfection," when in fact the caller assumes that in taking his position, he is being true to the Constitution. Isn't that our current problem – a President and his leftist minions who have scrapped the Constitution altogether? Many Americans like the caller to Limbaugh's show are justly confused about what exactly "natural born citizen" means, and they are owed a reasonable explanation. Play that game of looking down the nose at and castigating everyday American conservatives, and we will get a replay of 2012 – folks staying home in droves and another Democrat in the White House.

I had the same concern as the caller's early on, but I have since read a couple of explanations of the legal definition for the term. One, given by Mark Levin, the conservative radio host and lawyer (whom I greatly respect) and an article developed by two Solicitors General addressing the subject, one from Obama's Justice Department and one from George W. Bush's. (Click here: Commentary by Neal Katyal and Paul Clement)

In their commentary, titled "On the Meaning of Natural Born Citizen" (Harvard Law Review Forum), the lawyers explain the role of the Naturalization Act of 1790:

The Naturalization Act of 1790 expanded the class of citizens at birth to include children born abroad of citizen mothers as long as the father had at least been resident in the United States at some point. But Congress eliminated that differential treatment of citizen mothers and fathers before any of the potential candidates in the current presidential election were born. Thus, in the relevant time period, and subject to certain residency requirements, children born abroad of a citizen parent were citizens from the moment of birth, and thus are "natural born Citizens."

That is, a child born into such a situation does not require naturalization. Mark Levin made a similar point. The full commentary gives a complete analysis of all the immigration statutes pertaining to eligibility for American presidential candidates. It is a helpful source for anybody seeking clarification.

If nothing else, Rush Limbaugh and all conservative spokespeople with a platform should now be about the task of making it clear to all Americans, not just conservatives, that Ted Cruz's run for President of the United States is well within the boundaries of our Constitution. The Left had hissy fits over any questioning of Barack Obama's natural born citizenship status, even though Obama's father, as far as I am aware, never secured a green card, as did Ted Cruz's father. That green card established Cruz senior as a permanent resident of the United States, indicating that he intended to become an American citizen (which he eventually became). Obama's father, on the other hand, was a visiting student with no intention of ever becoming a United States citizen, given his Marxist animus toward Western culture. As would be expected of Obama senior, he returned to his country of origin, Kenya, East Africa.

So enough, already with the put-down of constitutionally grounded American citizens who want to adhere to the Constitution. It's time that this nation got back to that founding document, and Senator Cruz, interestingly, has voiced his intention to facilitate that return. If he thought he was ineligible, I trust that he would be the first to acknowledge such ineligibility – unlike Barack Obama.

© Sylvia Thompson