How Hard Will Cruz Fight to Keep This Document Secret?

The image above is the top portion of page 1 of the official form required by the Canadian government for any person seeking to renounce their Canadian citizenship.

Did you ever think you might have an American President that actually had to file this form, in order to assuage the concerns of his fellow Americans about his lifelong dual citizenship?

Yet here we are, in 2016, facing the prospect, slim but real, that the Republican Party would put an expatriate Canadian on the top of their November ticket.

Given that circumstance, you would think there might be some curiosity about the contents of Ted Cruz's Application to Rounce Canadian Citizenship.  After all, there has been no end of curiosity about the contents of other candidates' personal files, as a principal example, the incessant cry for the tax returns of Donald Trump (returns that Ted Cruz insinuated might show Trump had dealing with "the mob"). Yet, here we are 3/5ths of the way through the primary process and there is yet NO HUE and CRY, "Give us the Application!"

It isn't as though it would be difficult to produce.

Ted's an attorney. He undoubtedly maintained a copy of the document he submitted.

And, it is something of a curiosity, sure, but it is more than just a curiosity. Remember, one must be a natural born citizen of the United States to be eligible to be president. Canada, on the other hand, requires one that renounces Canadian citizenship to prove that they have citizenship elsewhere (avoiding persons becoming stateless as a consequence of granting such an application).

Seeing Ted's form would provide us with important information and insights.




















Notice, for example, Question 5A requires affirmation of citizenship elsewhere than Canada, and that proof of such citizenship be attached to the application. Question 5B requires that the applicant state the reason for renunciation. Given that Ted Cruz's mom's name appears on a list of potential Canadian voters, there is some possibility that she actively surrendered her US citizenship before Ted was born, or that she chose not to register his birth with the US Consulate at the time.

Getting an eyeball on Ted's proof of citizenship here just might prove interesting.

Perhaps his mom did file a consular report of birth abroad, perhaps not. Just as interesting would be the discovery of Ted's proffered reasons for renouncing his "natural born" Canadian citizenship. What might Ted have said? Perhaps, "I want to run for President, and your confused American cousins might not understand that I can be a 'natural born' citizen of two nations at the same time"? Or, maybe, "Hey guys, this is embarrassing, I've already been elected to the US Senate and never even thought about my dual citizenship and how it might sit with the YAhoos down here in Texas"?

Page two of the renunciation application has some good questions on it. Question 6 inquires about current address inside or outside Canada. It requires PROOF of residence outside Canada too. Doesn't seem like terribly private and personal information, the kind that Ted would need to hide. In fact, Question 6 is the kind of question he's probably had to answer a bunch of times, for things like tax returns, job applications, driver's licenses, etc.

Of course, pesky Question 7, seeking details regarding his birth might fester a bit in Ted's mind. Why, you ask. Simply because Question 7, properly answered, would remind everyone that Ted calls Calgary home, and Canada is the country of his origin. It's a craw sticker, really. Every time he gets past the concern that we might be frying Canadian bacon in the White House, someone offers him a Molson or cracks a Calgary stampede joke.

Now page 4, this one is a puzzler for a guy like Ted. It ought to be straight forward. Just list your parents, their countries of origin, and a few minor marital details. But again, the completed Ted Cruz renunciation would serve as a reminder that Ted's dad was, in all likelihood, a citizen of Cuba at the time of Ted's birth. And that really stinks up the citizenship works. Because, as it turns out, Ted was claimed by THREE NATIONS at birth:

• Cuban law asserts that children born to Cubans abroad are citizens of Cuba, and of no other Nation
• Canadian law asserts that all children born in Canada are citizens of Canada
• US law grants naturalized citizenship at birth to children born abroad to Americans

So, Ted's assertion that he is a "natural born citizen" is certainly true. He's a natural born citizen of Canada, by Canadian law. And he is a natural born citizen of Cuba by Cuban law. The assertion that he is a natural born citizen of the United States, however, is unsupported by law or fact.

The last page of the renunciation application is a document checklist. It has to be filed with the application and it lists documents required to be filed with the application. So, in Ted's case, he would have had to provide a certified copy of his birth certificate.

Fortunately for Ted, that seems to have been an easy task. His birth certificate even showed up in the newspapers:

Still there are those other troublesome document requests:

• certified copy of proof of citizenship of a country other than canada
• certified copy of proof of residence outside canada
• certified copies of two additional pieces of personal ID, including at least one photo ID

Now, to prove up his citizenship elsewhere, what might Ted offer?

Well, if you ask the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, the answer would be:

The most common documents that establish U.S. citizenship are: 

• Birth Certificate, issued by a U.S. State (if the person was born in the United States), or by the U.S. Department of State (if the person was born abroad to U.S. citizen parents who registered the child’s birth and U.S. citizenship with the U.S. Embassy or consulate); 

• U.S. Passport, issued by the U.S. Department of State; 

• Certificate of Citizenship, issued to a person born outside the United States who derived or acquired U.S. citizenship through a U.S. citizen parent; or 

• Naturalization Certificate, issued to a person who became a U.S. citizen after 18 years of age through the naturalization process.

Of course, Ted admits his Canadian birth, so there won't be a birth certificate forthcoming from a US State. But perhaps Ted's parents registered his birth with a consulate in Canada? If so, producing a copy of that consular report and a certificate of citizenship should present no logistical problem, although the discomfort factor accompanying yet another reminder of his foreign birth may trouble him, and lead to a decision to decline to produce the Application for Renunciation of Citizenship.

Ted won't likely be president of the United States. But he has gotten near enough that it is time for the public to insist that he fully disclose the process by which he abandoned his natural born Canadian citizenship. Clear the air, Ted, produce your Application to Renounce Canadian Citizenship and the supporting documents you filed with the application.