This post appeared on the RenounceUSCitizenship blog.
We know that Mr. Cruz plans to renounce his Canadian citizenship. The assumption is that this will be easy for him to achieve. This is because:
1. Unlike the United States, Canada views citizenship as voluntary membership in a political community. The United States views citizenship as as a form of “servitude” to the state;
2. The assumption is that Cruz was also born a U.S. citizen or will become a U.S. citizen. In other words, Mr. Cruz would have another citizenship to go to if and when he renounces his Canadian citizenship. Mr. Cruz better hope that Canada will simply accept his claim of being a U.S. citizen (without forcing Mr. Cruz to prove his U.S. citizenship).
In any case, nothing will ever change the fact that Mr. Cruz was “foreign born”. Nothing will ever change the fact that he was born Canadian. But, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. After all the number one pick in this years NBA draft – Anthony Bennet – is a Canadian. Perhaps Senator Cruz should position himself as the “Anthony Bennet of U.S. politics”.
As has been well documented, Senator Cruz should be eternally grateful that he is trying to divest himself of the citizenship of a country that regards citizenship as a voluntary association. He would have great difficult divesting himself of his U.S. status.
Comparison between @SenTedCruz and Canadian Premier David Alward – http://t.co/l64FuomDm8 – Which of the two won the birth lottery?
— U.S. Citizen Abroad (@USCitizenAbroad) August 23, 2013
As one RothCPA noted:
Ted Cruz is lucky it wasn’t the other way around. The Texas Senator recently learned that he is an accidental Canadian citizen because he was born in Calgary. His American mom moved back to the U.S. when he was four and the Senator apparently never considered himself a Great White Northian.
Now he plans to “renounce” his Canadianhood, presumably to make his political life easier. That’s fine for him, but I hope he ponders just how lucky he is that his life didn’t go the other way. If Ted Cruz’s mom were a Canadian who brought him into the world in Fargo, and then moved him as a toddler back to Canada, he would be up to his toque in problems with the IRS.
Assume our alternate-world Ted Cruz – we’ll call him Canada Cruz — had become a successful Canadian lawyer and politician. Given his $3.5 million net worth, he certainly would have opened substantial bank and brokerage accounts in Canada. He would have significant retirement plan assets. And, like many accidental Americans, it would probably never have occurred to him that his American citizenship obligated him to file FBAR reports and U.S. tax returns reporting his Canadian income.
The Treasury might claim half the balance of his financial accounts for each year he failed to file Form TD F 90-22.1 – or a mere $10,000 per year if they decided his violation wasn’t “willful.” If he attempted to participate in the OVDI “amnesty” program to clean things up, he would probably be told to cough up “only” 25% of the balances in all of his Canadian accounts, and to file US returns paying tax on “all tax years” covered by the disclosure. Assuming $3 million of his $3.5 million net worth represents financial assets, Canada Cruz would have to fork over at least $750,000 as a result of being an accidental American. Just in case you wonder why people might renounce U.S. citizenship.
For those who doubt this, let’s compare Senator Ted Cruz of Texas who born in Canada and left Canada for the United States when he was four, to New Brunswick Premier David Alward who was born in the United States and left the United States for Canada when he was a young boy. In a 2011 article, the Wall Street Journal’s Laura Saunders included Premier Alward in an expose of non-U.S. residents who “confess”ed to having not notified the IRS that he had a bank account in his province of residence. If Premier Alward wished to renounce his U.S. citizenship he would be forced to come into U.S. tax compliance (remember he lives in Canada). In fact, it has been widely reported that Premier Alward is in OVDI. What might it mean for David Alward – middle-aged man, born in the U.S., but who has lived most of his life outside the United States? Consider the following comment:
Those now faced with an unprecedented, even retroactive, enforcement campaign and who must, if they wish to become compliant and avoid penalty or even prosecution (should they be identified in the future), sacrifice much of their wealth, even become insolvent.
The above quote is “lawyerspeak” for:
The IRS is stalking U.S. citizens abroad. Once found the IRS is confiscating the assets of Americans abroad under the guise of PFIC penalties, the FBAR Fundraiser and the like.
But it gets worse. With FATCA the U.S. is attempting to get other countries to at the expense of that country to:
– find U.S. citizens who reside in their country;
– turn them over to the IRS;
– allow the IRS to confiscate money and assets earned and accumulated in that country.
In other words through the combination of citizenship-based and FATCA the U.S. is attempting to extract a share of the economy of every country with resident U.S. citizens. So far, there has been little backlash. The reason is that these countries don’t understand the confiscatory intent and effects of FATCA.
But, back to Senator Cruz:
So, “born in Canada” gives you Canadian citizenship but “born in the USA” gives you American ownership. Once that wad of US personhood is attached to your sole you will have to pay a big price to have it scraped off and you might even have to chew your foot off, like an animal in a leg-hold trap. Canada just attaches an easily removable post-it note with instructions on how to let them know you no longer want or need to be a Canadian.
Fortunately for Mr. Cruz he won’t have to “chew” his foot off to end his Canadian citizenship. Many a U.S. citizen abroad will be forced to choose between their feet and their freedom. Such are the laws in the “Land of the flee, sorry I meant free.” The irony is that Mr. Cruz is using the laws of a relatively free nation, which provides “post it note instructions” for how be free, to enter an “animal trap”.
It would be interesting to know what Senator Cruz thinks of the immorality and conduct of the Obama IRS and citizenship-based taxation in general!
With that introduction, I thought it might be interesting to meet Senator Cruz. He is clearly a fan or Rand Paul. Would he share Rand Paul’s bill to repeal FATCA? Who knows. He could be the first Canadian born President of the United States. He comes with a very impressive resume. I found this be of particular interest:
Cruz graduated cum laude from Princeton University in 1992.[4][1] While at Princeton, he competed for the American Whig-Cliosophic Society‘s Debate Panel and won the top speaker award at both the 1992 U.S. National Debating Championship and the 1992 North American Debating Championship.[24] In 1992, he was named U.S. National Speaker of the Year and Team of the Year (with his debate partner, David Panton).[25] Cruz was also a semi-finalist at the 1995 World Universities Debating Championship.[26]
Cruz’s senior thesis on the separation of powers, titled “Clipping the Wings of Angels,” draws its inspiration from a passage attributed to President James Madison: “If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.” Cruz argued that the drafters of the Constitution intended to protect the rights of their constituents, and the last two items in the Bill of Rights offered an explicit stop against an all-powerful state. Cruz wrote: “They simply do so from different directions. The Tenth stops new powers, and the Ninth fortifies all other rights, or non-powers.”[21][27]
He fully supported the #standwithrand filibuster to protest the Obama drone attacks. For that alone, he would have my vote.
I encourage you to watch the video in its entirety. Don’t want to watch the whole video. Pick it up at the 28 minute mark. It strikes me there are areas where he could be an ally. I can see a Rand Paul – Ted Cruz ticket in 2016!
What he doesn’t acknowledge is how lucky he was born in Canada and how unlucky Premier Alward was to be born in the United States!
National Geographic: “How to Renounce Your Citizenship”
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/08/130822-ted-cruz-howto-renounce-citizenship/
Even NatGeo is looking at citizenship renunciation now.
Very interesting and I think I resemble one of those remarks. 🙂 I well remember the Rand Paul drone filibuster. I watched hours of it live and was tuned in when Ted Cruz made his contribution. I won’t get into the left-right thing that Americans are so hung up on because I’m an issue oriented person. On the issue of the use of drones, Sen. Cruz was on the mark but IMHO neither he nor Sen. Paul went far enough. Drones are an absolute abomination, no matter who they are targeting.
@Em
I love the mental picture 🙂
“Canada views citizenship as voluntary membership in a political community.”
As a dual US-Canadian citizen, resident in the USA, I would agree with this statement–but only up to a point–not completely.
Certainly it is much easier for a dual citizen, resident in the USA and wishing to disavow themselves of Canadian citizenship to do so–than it would be for their counterpart–resident in Canada and wishing to disavow themselves of US citizenship.
But what of a dual citizen, resident in the USA, who wishes to retain dual citizenship? Can they continue to–as you put it–be a part of a political community? It is tricky. For a Canadian citizen to vote in a Canadian election while abroad, certainly there is a chance of it being possible. But there are a couple of constraints. One is that the Canadian must have “left Canada” within the last 5 years. It has never been entirely clear whether this means they merely have needed to return to Canada for a brief visit within the last five years–or whether they need to have been in Canada as a resident within the last 5 years.
The other constraint is that they need to affirm that they intend to return to Canada to live as a resident at some point in the future.
As a Canadian (dual) citizen, resident outside Canada, I have voted in Canadian elections in the past. Such registrations are valid for a maximum of five years. Thus, as my time of registration has expired–and as my Member of Parliament (Bob Rae) has resigned–I must re-register as a Canadian citizen abroad eligible to vote in Canadian elections. I have applied for such registration and we shall soon see whether it is accepted.
Certainly it is quite possible that my registration to vote in a Canadian election will be accepted. That is not the point. The point is that ALL Canadian citizens–under the Canadian constitution–are eligible to vote in Canadian elections. Period. The fact that there are hoops to jump through for those of us outside Canada is–quite simply–not constitutional under the Canadian constitution.
If I were a US citizen living outside the US I believe my right to vote in US elections would be beyond dispute.
Again, I understand your concerns regarding US citizens wishing to voluntarily expatriate. But your claim that Canadian citizens are automatically members of some sort of political community seems a bit suspect to me.
@Dash1729: “If I were a US citizen living outside the US I believe my right to vote in US elections would be beyond dispute.”
If you were born abroad, you have no right to voter registration. Something like 25 states allow children of former state residents to register to vote there; the rest do not.
http://www.aaro.org/aaro-around-the-world/254-which-american-kids-dont-have-the-right-to-vote-ours
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/presidential-campaign/262261-born-overseas-to-american-parents-but-unable-to-vote
The other problem is that US citizens abroad are not counted in the census and don’t have our own voting district either (as France provides for its diaspora, among many others). Thus, even if we do get to vote, the weight of our numbers doesn’t contribute to how many seats “our” state gets in the House or the Electoral College. States which send more people abroad get less representation. (Consider the degenerate, reductio ad absurdum case: if all the residents of a state move abroad, they can all still “vote”, but their votes get a weighting of zero.)
@Eric I agree with you that any citizen of a democratic country–be that the USA or Canada or anywhere else–should be entitled to vote regardless of where they live in the world.
In the case of Canada, however, even if the person has resided in Canada as an adult and voted in Canada as an adult, their right to vote–or at least their ability, in practice, to vote given that the actual right to vote is enshrined in the Canadian constitution–can be called into question if they either cannot convincingly state they’ve been in Canada recently or plan to return to Canada in the near future. I haven’t yet had the experience of being an expat American so I can’t comment on what, in practice, it is like for expat Americans. But my experience with Canada is that she tends to cut her ties with her citizens taxwise (arguably a good thing) when they abandon residency and also tends to cut her ties with her citizens regarding their voting privilege (not such a good thing) also when they abandon residency.
Paul Bernardo is guaranteed the right to vote in Canadian elections for the rest of his life. I am not. Something is wrong with this picture.
Does Ted Cruz qualify for renunciation of Canadian citizenship? It appears that one of the criteria for renunciation of Canadian citizenship is that he pose no threat to (Canadian) national security. If there is a chance that, as US president, Ted Cruz would pursue policies that would pose a threat to Canadian national security, shouldn’t his request to renounce Canadian citizenship be denied?
Also to renounce Canadian citizenship he needs to present a convincing argument that he is, in fact, a US citizen–otherwise he would be left stateless and hence not eligible for renunciation of Canadian citizenship.
I don’t live in the USA so I shouldn’t pay taxes to the USA. But I also don’t think I should be able to vote in the USA either. I’m not part of that community – no taxes and no voting. That seems fair to me. I also think US permanent residents living the USA should be allowed to vote in the USA.
My view is that rights and duties should be tied to residence not citizenship.
@Eric, have to ask if he should even be a Senator for Texas. Why? Because he’s probably been voting ILLEGALLY for years. Texas isn’t on the list of states that allow foreign born Americans to vote, therefore he’s been breaking the law. Anyone know if any anti-Cruz websites where that fact can be posted?
@Medea Fleecestealer
U.S. citizens who were not born in the USA aren’t allowed to vote in Texas?!? Seriously? Wow, talk about second class citizenship.
Um, reading the article again maybe he can.
“But what if the person in question has never been domiciled in a state? UOCAVA doesn’t cover them. The right to vote is not guaranteed by the Constitution; it is a “gift” of the states. If you move back to any state: problem solved.”
But Texas isn’t a state that would allow a foreign born child to use his parents US address when registering to vote while still living abroad.
I have to comment that Dash is the most useful blogger. Her/His information is precise and useful.
Johnson,
Correct. The few statistics available show not many US expats (especially those of us who have made our lives and taken citizenship in other countries) vote in US elections. If we do, our vote has nil or very little effect. I would think most of us would feel that the US homelanders are the ones to decide (by their voting rights) how their country is to be run, including those whose plan is to return to US residence. Many may have made the mistake of voting for President Obama, believing that he might really turn US direction around. Silly rascals!
It is thought he will get the Latino vote. Why?
Senator Ted Cruz is in favour of US Border Wall
5 Things Ted Cruz Has In Common With DREAMers
@Johnson, Calgary411
It’s an argument we often have with homelanders, that to vote we must pay taxes. My right to vote, as are any of the rights that the US government bestows on me as a non-resident or otherwise, are granted by citizenship, not taxation. Otherwise, no other country’s expats would be allowed to vote. Many US citizens living abroad value their right to vote in US elections. Should the US move to RBT, should they be denied that right as a result and have no say whatsoever in their country’s political process?
@bubblebustin, According to the 24th amendment, it is unconstitutional to require payment of taxes as a condition to vote in federal elections.
Yesterday Ted Cruz joked that he is a citizen of Ethiopia. Guess what country is just to the north of Ethiopia.
No, you’re right, they should not be denied the right as a result of RBT if they remain citizens of the US and plan to return there, the US being their country — resident in other countries only for a short time or work related. As a renunciant, I feel I want no say in anything they, as a whole, decide to do to their country by their votes. I did make a grievous mistake by voting in the 2008 election, one of many of whom I consider silly rascals. As a Canadian, dual or not, it never occurred to me to have any say in US matters before I was handed back my US citizenship, the one that I had considered relinquished from 1975 to when I made my many mistakes. I guess we all have different feelings on how much of any US-ness we retain.
@shadow raider
The 24th Amendment. I knew I read it somewhere 🙂 Thanks, I’ll refer to it when I need it again.
Now what’s the sentiment behind Cruz’s comment? That someone can be a citizen of just about any number of countries and not know it?
I was watching a bunch of Daily Shows that I hadn’t seen. John Oliver mentioned Cruz’s Canada connection way back on August 5th, if only to mock the birthers. Someone should tell Cruz what the difference between being an American “by birth” and “at birth” is.
@Calgary411
I know it was a dumb question, but I just wanted to illustrate how dangerous it is to connect the right to vote to taxation.
I did have to look at a map, Shadow Raider. LOL.
I not sure if this is still current, but Italy has seats specially designated for overseas citizens.
From Wikipedia:
“The Italian Parliament is one of the few legislatures in the world to reserve seats for those citizens residing abroad. There are twelve such seats in the Chamber of Deputies and six in the Senate.”
I first heard about this about 7 years ago when it was reported that a former Canadian cabinet minister,
Alfonso Gagliano, whose career in Canadian politics was less than stellar, was actively working for one of the Italian political parties in the ‘foreign district’ of North America.
Even Italy, with its chaotic political system, can give its overseas citizens meaningful representation. And, of course, you only pay taxes ( or evade paying taxes as the case may be, e.g Silvio Berlusconi ) to Italy if you are an Italian resident.
For the period I lived in the USA I did not even think of voting in Canada. I actually didn’t even know who the PM was for awhile. That may sound strange but we didn’t have telephone service and only intermittent, generally fuzzy, television reception and of course the internet was just some mysterious concept to us back then. Obviously what news I did manage to get down there made no mention of Canada. EXCEPT, once a weird atmospheric TV signal bounce gave us an astonishing 15 minutes of live coverage of the chuck wagon races at the Calgary Stampede. That was pretty much it for news from back home for me. It would not have been proper (even though it would have been allowable) for me (in my mind) to add my vote to those of my fellow distant Canadians. Truthfully I did not miss voting. My husband voted in the US elections and we had a sort of vote share arrangement. We discussed what we thought would be the best choices and then he voted for the two of us.
I’d gladly trade my right to vote for not being taxed by the USG if I could 🙂
@ bubblebustin
Exactly! Black box voting has made US votes worthless anyway but freedom from US tax form hell is priceless.
“If there is a chance that, as US president, Ted Cruz would pursue policies that would pose a threat to Canadian national security, shouldn’t his request to renounce Canadian citizenship be denied?”
Dash1729; that is an exceedingly good point, however, the way the Canadian government sees it is that “Canada and the USA share the worlds longest undefended border. What could the USA, who sees us as a friend, do to us? It wouldn’t be right and the USA is smarter than that.” Hell of a risk to take with a country obsessed with figuring out a way to get out of a 17T debt. But our stupid Canadian government doesn’t see it that way. I now don’t see the USA as a friend, I see it as a sworn enemy.