I read the comments sections on my articles.  One of the comments I see consistently is "I like Ted Cruz, but I am worried he is not constitutionally qualified to be president."

So I decided to look into the issue.

After doing some research, here's what I discovered:

Ted Cruz was born in Canada.  He had (past tense) Canadian citizenship, which he was entitled to automatically, having been born in Canada, and which he has since renounced.  He was also born with American citizenship.  His mother was an American; his father was not.

The Constitution says any candidate for president must be 35 years of age, a resident within the United States for 14 years and a "natural born citizen."

The question then is, what is a natural born citizen?  I don't think there is any doubt that being born abroad doesn't prevent  Cruz from being a natural born citizen.  If so, any children born to American parents while abroad wouldn't be Americans.  That makes no sense.  And to eliminate doubt, Congress expressly passed a law saying children of Americans born outside America were in fact natural born Americans.

The Nationality Act of 1940 outlines which children become “nationals and citizens of the United States at birth.” In addition to those who are born in the United States or born outside the country to parents who were both citizens — or, interestingly, found in the United States without parents and no proof of birth elsewhere — citizenship goes to babies born to one American parent who has spent a certain number of years here. That single-parent requirement has been amended several times, but under the law in effect between 1952 and 1986 — Cruz was born in 1970 — someone must have a citizen parent who resided in the United States for at least 10 years, including five after the age of 14, in order to be considered a natural-born citizen. Cruz’s mother, Eleanor Darragh, was born in Delaware, lived most of her life in the United States, and gave birth to little Rafael Edward Cruz in her 30s.

So according to the Nationality Act of 1940, Ted Cruz, who was born outside America to one American parent, is clearly a natural born American, and he can clearly run for and hold the office of the presidency.  I think this should be the end of this discussion.

But rather than end there, let me take a controversial stand: even if Ted Cruz were a foreigner, I would still find him preferable to the rest of the field.  On the issue of illegal aliens, all the other Republicans running – all of them – are squishes.  Scott Walker has accomplished some good things, but most of the others haven't even advocated limited government and original intent constitutionalism, at least not before they came to CPAC last week.  Compare that to a tested and proven figure like the late Margaret Thatcher.  If she were still alive, she'd be more than preferable to Jeb Bush or Chris Christie because, regardless of her nationality, she had the right instincts.

I find it more than a little ironic that people are targeting Ted Cruz because of his supposed nationality problems when he is the only American running for president who is consistently in favor of controlling our borders.  The rest of the crop of candidates are so poor on the issue I could be persuaded to vote for someone from Iceland if he had the right governing philosophy.

Pedro Gonzales is the editor of Newsmachete.com, the conservative news site; is constitutionally qualified to be president; and, given enough write-in votes on election day, is ready to serve.