Senator Ted Cruz of Texas is no longer Canadian. The Republican has officially renounced his citizenship with our neighbors to the north.
Cruz is considered a rising star in the Republican Party and, therefore, a potential presidential candidate for the 2016 election. So, last summer, when it was discovered that he was born in Canada, he released his birth certificate to prove that his mother is American. Since he was born in Canada, he automatically got Canadian citizenship, a rule that also applies to anyone born within the U.S. But since his mother is American, that also meant that he was born an American citizen, so he had dual citizenship.
Nine months after learning his status, he is now only a citizen of the U.S. According to the Dallas Morning News, Cruz received a notification by mail at his Houston home that he is no longer a Canadian citizen. His staff provided the Morning News with a copy of the renunciation letter to prove it.
“He’s pleased to receive the notification and glad to have this process finalized,” spokeswoman Catherine Frazier told the Morning News.
Last August, Cruz didn’t even realize he had dual citizenship until the Morning News’ report. “Because I was a U.S. citizen at birth, because I left Calgary when I was 4 and have lived my entire life since then in the U.S., and because I have never taken affirmative steps to claim Canadian citizenship, I assumed that was the end of the matter,” Cruz said at the time, reports CNN.
While the Constitution does say that an American must be a “natural born citizen,” some have interpreted this to mean that you have to be born on U.S. soil. But since Cruz’s mother is American, legal experts have agreed that Cruz is eligible to run, if he chooses to.