Houston lawyer files lawsuit against Ted Cruz over citizenship; Donald Trump gloats senator's presidential eligibility

By Staff Writer | Jan 18, 2016 06:42 AM EST

Ted Cruz received a lawsuit filed by a Houston lawyer named Newton Schwartz. The lawsuit challenges Ted Cruz's eligibility to run for president in the US since he was born in Canada.

Newton Boris Schwartz alleges that defendant candidate Ted Cruz is not constitutionally eligible to be elected as president of the United States of America. The veteran Houston lawyer also said that Ted Cruz is not even eligible to run as Vice President.

According to NBC News, Newton Schwartz filed the lawsuit because no one else has done it. The complaint was composed of 28 pages. Schwartz asked the US Supreme Court to decide if Ted Cruz's birth to a Cuban father and American mother while they resided in Canada contravenes the US Constitution's natural born citizen requirement.

Daily News reported that Legal Analyst Gerald Treece predicted that the lawsuit filed by the Houston attorney against Ted Cruz will be dismissed because the Houston lawyer doesn't really have what's called 'standing'. Gerald Treece said that one needs to have a real case or controversy. Treece believes Schwartz doesn't have one.

Ted Cruz argues that he became a US citizen at birth and have reminded his detractors that his mother is American. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has also repeatedly questioned Ted Cruz's presidential eligibility ever since. On Thursday, the two faced each other in a Republican debate. When Trump raised citizenship issue, Cruz fired back that even though the Constitution hasn't changed recently, his polling numbers have. The Texas senator indicated that Trump's attack on his citizenship was motivated by the recent polling. Cruz said that Trump was dismayed because his poll numbers fell significantly in Iowa, as reported by ABC News.

The US Constitution states that no person except a natural-born citizen or a citizen of America, at the time of the adoption of this constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President. Newton Schwartz is hopeful the Supreme Court will finally define what a natural born citizen means and that the future presidential candidates can learn from it. The lawyer also said that he is just doing his job as an American.

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