I am puzzled by the fact that some commentators seem to think that
Rogers v. Bellei (1971) is not a problem for Ted Cruz. It seems to me to be a significant
problem for him.
In Bellei, the Supreme Court held—or at least clearly
affirmed—that a US citizen in Cruz’s precise circumstances (foreign birth,
American mother, alien father) was a naturalized citizen. The Court divided, 5-4, on whether the
plaintiff was naturalized "in the United States" or overseas, but all
nine Justices agreed that he was naturalized.
On many occasions, the Court has stated or implied that naturalized
citizens are not eligible to be president. In Schneider v. Rusk, for example, the
Court observed that “the rights of citizenship of the native born and of the
naturalized person are of the same dignity, and are coextensive. The only
difference drawn by the Constitution is that only the ‘natural born’ citizen is
eligible to be President.” 377
U.S. 163, 165-66 (1964).
Likewise, in Luria v. United States, the Court wrote: “Under our
Constitution, a naturalized citizen stands on an equal footing with the native
citizen in all respects save that of eligibility to the Presidency.” 231 U.S.
9, 22 (1914). The Court
repeated this statement thirty years later in Baumgartner v. United States. See 322 U.S. 665, 673 (1944) (quoting
Luria).
In short, Cruz may be ineligible to be president for two relatively simple
reasons: (1) naturalized citizens are not eligible; and (2) Cruz is a naturalized
citizen.