This article was originally written by Daniel Horowitz and published by Conservative Review:
Sen. John McCain recently cast doubt over whether Ted Cruz is enough of a natural-born citizen to meet the qualifications to become president under U.S. Const. art. II, § 1, cl. 5. Contrasting to his birth on a U.S. Military base in Panama, he said, “[T]hat’s different from being born on foreign soil, so I think there is a question. I am not a Constitutional scholar on that, but I think it’s worth looking into.”
A number of brilliant constitutional minds of our generation have already weighed in on the absurdity of this charge. Andy McCarthy has an eloquent piece at National Review that is a must read. Our existing statutes grant citizenship at birth to any child born to an American parent who moved overseas for a period of time. Cruz, as well as others born under similar circumstances, have always been granted citizenship at birth ever since the Immigration Act of 1790, which was passed by a Congress full of members who helped draft the original Constitution. This is not complicated.
But for our purposes, I want to hone in on a different point. Some of the same leftists, like Nancy Pelosi and John McCain, are unsure about Cruz’s citizenship status but they are absolutely certain that the Constitution grants full citizenship to children born in the U.S. to those here against the national will. Further, they believe that Congress, which has plenary authority over naturalizations, is powerless to stop this invasion of our sovereignty, even prospectively.
Read the rest of the article here.