Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz asked a federal judge in Texas to throw out a birther challenge to his eligibility to serve, saying there’s no legal basis to question his status as a “natural-born” U.S. citizen.
Cruz, who was born in Canada to an American mother and a Cuban father, rejects arguments that he’s disqualified to serve as president because he wasn’t born in the U.S. The senator claims it’s settled constitutional law that American citizenship is conferred on children the moment they’re born to U.S. citizens living abroad. Cruz’s family returned to Texas when he was a child, and he has renounced the Canadian portion of his dual citizenship.