US senator Ted Cruz drops Canadian citizenship with on presidency
Possible presidential bid likely behind move by Texan Ted Cruz, who was born in Calgary
Republican Senator Ted Cruz is renouncing his Canadian citizenship, removing a potential distraction to a possible 2016 presidential campaign.
Cruz, 42, who represents Texas, was born in Calgary to an American mother, automatically making him a US citizen. The Dallas Morning News reported at the weekend that Cruz also automatically became a citizen of Canada upon his birth. The paper posted a copy of Cruz's birth certificate on its website.
"Because I was a US citizen at birth, because I left Calgary when I was four and have lived my entire life since then in the US, and because I have never taken affirmative steps to claim Canadian citizenship, I assumed that was the end of the matter," Cruz said, according to newspaper the Austin American-Statesman.
"Now the Dallas Morning News says that I may technically have dual citizenship. Assuming that is true, then sure, I will renounce any Canadian citizenship," Cruz said. "Nothing against Canada, but I'm an American by birth and as a US senator, I believe I should be only an American."
The US Constitution says that "no person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States", may be eligible for the presidency. The constitution doesn't specify what the term "natural born citizen" actually means, and it doesn't address dual citizenship.
The president must also be at least 35 years old and have lived within the US for at least 14 years.