Calgary’s Ted Cruz for President?

It seems that Rafael Edward “Ted” Cruz, junior Senator for the state of Texas who was born in Calgary, Alberta, to a Cuban father and an American mother has a dream to become the president of the United States of America. He is committed to do everything to make it come true even renouncing his Canadian citizenship.  A few years ago people would surely have been astonished that a Latino who was born in Canada had plans for presidency but since a Hawaiian born African American now holds the office why should Ted Cruz give up his dreams?

The U.S. Constitution allows only a “natural born” American citizen to serve as president. Most legal experts says that an American born overseas to an American parent, such as Cruz must be also considered as a “natural born” American citizens.  Also the U.S. Constitution says nothing about candidates born with dual citizenship, so it seems that Ted Cruz doesn’t have a legal obligation to renounce his Canadian citizenship to be eligible to become president but we must understand that this is not only a cheap campaign gear but a necessary step. Preserving his Canadian citizenship would give a great benefit to his opponents.

According to the Citizenship and Immigration Office of Canada the renunciation of Canadian Citizenship is not a complicated procedure. Those, who wants to renounce their citizenship for any reason need to pay a $100 nonrefundable fee and complete an application form. During the procedure (which takes about 4 months) the applicant must also prove that he or she will become a citizen of a country other than Canada.  If the application to renounce is approved Ted Cruz will become only a U.S. citizen, and this regulation will not  cause any future problems for him. He must also prove that he understands the significance of renouncing his Canadian citizenship. The renunciation not only means that Ted Cruz will no longer be entitled to the free medical care of Canada but if he wants to return to Canada later he will have to go through the immigration process.  While he publicly announced his renunciation of his Canadian Citizenship in August there is still no news about him starting the procedure.

I firmly believe that we, Canadians shouldn’t take offense to this.  Ted Cruz renouncing his citizenship is the only logical decision if he is really determined to make his dreams comes true.  We should say farewell to Ted Cruz and wish him good luck in the U.S. elections.