On the day of the South Carolina Republican primary, GOP frontrunner Donald Trump retweeted a link from a group called Powdered Wig Society that stated both Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Marco Rubio are ineligible to become president of the United States.
Cruz was born in Canada to an American mother, so he was granted citizenship upon his birth.
For some scholars, it’s enough to satisfy the natural-born-citizen clause required for presidency. For others, it’s not.
Rubio, though, was born in Miami, Florida. Only Trump and rightist radicals with .com URLs and silly names like Powdered Wig Society doubt Rubio’s classification as a “natural-born citizen.”
At the time of his birth, his parents had not become naturalized citizens. However any literate individual knows those born on U.S. soil are granted citizenship upon their birth.
These xenophobes are attempting to use the citizenship status of Rubio’s parents to disqualify him from the presidency.
I’m getting tired of hearing the phrase “natural-born citizen” in regards to the presidency.
We’re entering our third consecutive election cycle in which this has been an issue. In 2008 President Barack Obama was supposedly ineligible because he was born in Kenya and not to American citizens. Sen. John McCain was born outside the U.S. and had his eligibility questioned by Constitutional literalists.
In 2012, Trump reminded us of the “problems” with President Obama’s citizenship. Now, Cruz, Rubio and Gov. Bobby Jindal have had their eligibility questioned.
It’s time to repeal this portion of the Constitution.
In 2013, the Center for Immigration Studies reported that the immigrant population of the U.S reached an all-time high at 41.3 million, or 13 percent of the total population.
I find it absurd that we should prohibit many people from running for president simply because they were born elsewhere. Currently, there are 17 members of Congress, 3 members of the President’s Cabinet and 1 sitting governor who were all born on foreign soil.
These people may be perfectly qualified for the presidency but are ineligible because the founders of our fledgling nation feared a foreigner would rise to power and become president. The Washington Post notes the founders believed foreigners were “disloyal.”
That’s a sentiment we’re just going to need to get over. We are a nation of foreigners and a nation of immigrants. The only thing that makes someone an American is being on its soil. This discriminatory clause needs to go.
Perhaps then the Republicans can get back to the issues. But they probably won’t.
thshowal@indiana.edu
@TherinShowalter
