Conservative Latino Republican Ted Cruz, who was supported by the Tea Party, won the Republican Senate seat in November and is already making waves. (Photo/AP Images)

Opinion: Sen. Cruz might face birther problem, isn’t that ironic?

by Julio Ricardo Varela

5:00 am on 03/15/2013

I don’t even know how to react to the “renewed buzz” that Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz was born in Canada, but I will try my best, because as natural-born American citizen from Puerto Rico, I demand answers.
This all started when FOX’s Carl Cameron said on March 8 that Cruz would not be eligible to run for President in 2016 because he was born in Canada. Here is what Cameron said:

“And Rubio’s not the GOP’s only Latino up-and-comer. Texas freshman Ted Cruz’s feisty Senate debut had some Tea Partiers noting that in 2016, he’d have as much Senate experience as President Obama did when he first ran. But Cruz was born in Canada and is constitutionally ineligible.”

My first reaction was that I should make a call to Maricopa Country Sheriff Joe Arpaio to see if he can send his Cold Case Posse to Calgary to expose such un-American developments.
Then I thought I should reach out to the Breitbarts of the world to see what can be done and demand that the truth be told about Cruz’s Canadian past. However, it appears that Breitbart has already called out Cameron for false information, and has already written its constitutional interpretation of what it is to be a “natural-born citizen.” Besides, Sen. John McCain was born in the Panama Canal zone, and he was eligible.
You see, the U.S. Constitution does indeed leave it wide open when it states the following: “No Person except a natural-born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President…” Cruz’s defenders are quick to point out that Cruz’s mom is an American citizen, and even though his dad is Cuban, Cruz is an American citizen because his mom is one.
Does that sound familiar at all? Anyone?
Time to get those Air Canada tickets for the Cold Case Posse so that we as Americans are absolutely sure. I mean, the last thing I would want in this country is Canadian Cruz fooling us all in 2016. Next thing you know, a President Cruz would enact the Tim Horton Hockey Act of 2017, requiring that all young Americans under 12 buy ice skates and find their nearest frozen pond. The horror.
Let’s be real: the political hypocrisy is full tilt with this story. To think that the very same argument that President Obama made to “prove” he was born in Hawaii is now being used for Senator Cruz is beyond ironic. Cruz’s defenders all use his patriotism as proof that he is 100% American. Guess people have never seen the “Manchurian Candidate?”
A Cruz spokesperson sent via e-mail a response stating:

Sen. Cruz is a U.S. citizen by birth, having been born to an American-born mother. He is focused entirely on his new role in the Senate, and on working every day to represent Texas and defend conservative principles in the Senate.

Birtherism aside, the bigger hypocrisy is Cruz himself. Yes, the Latino “up and comer” Ted Cruz has already gone extreme in the immigration reform debate when he issued the following statement on January 28:

 I have deep concerns with the proposed path to citizenship. To allow those who came here illegally to be placed on such a path is both inconsistent with rule of law and profoundly unfair to the millions of legal immigrants who waited years, if not decades, to come to America legally.

Dude, you were born in Canada. Seriously?
This is the problem with Cruz: where would he be right now if his mother weren’t an American citizen? How easy would it been for him and his family to cross the Canadian border and thrive in the United States? What about the others who share his same last name who aren’t as lucky as the senator from Texas? Canadian Cruz is a classic example of the “I got mine” mentality. And that is perhaps the most un-American attitude of them all.