Tuesday’s No Birthright Here Open Comments

On the Texas Border

The Constitution Does Not Grant Birthright Citizenship to the Children of Illegal Immigrants

Dozens of media outlets are reporting in unison that Donald Trump cannot stop the U.S. government from awarding birthright citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants. They claim this is the case because the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution requires it.

In reality, the legislative history of the 14th Amendment is clear that it only grants birthright citizenship to the children of people who are legally and permanently living in the United States. This does not apply to the children of illegal immigrants, temporary residents, visitors, or tourists.

The children of such foreigners are currently granted U.S. citizenship and its benefits under a misinterpretation of the Constitution. Although such citizenship could be conferred through legislation, no such law exists.

A Supreme Court ruling in 1898 presents mixed messages about this issue, but it is factually flawed on multiple levels and could justifiably be superseded by the current Supreme Court.

All the Harvard lawyers in America can’t find their ass with both hands, much less the Constitution of the United States of America.

During a recent episode of NBC’s Meet the Press, moderator Kristen Welker asked President-elect Donald Trump if he planned to keep his promise to end birthright citizenship on his first day in office, and Trump replied, “Yeah. Absolutely.”

Welker then challenged Trump by stating, “The 14th Amendment, though, says that, quote, ‘All persons born in the United States are citizens.’ Can you get around the 14th Amendment with an executive action?”

Welker’s assertion is materially false because it omits the operative words “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” from the 14th Amendment:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens….

The debate about birthright citizenship hinges upon the words that Welker excluded, but instead of correcting her, several media outlets parroted her falsehood, like the BBC, CNN, and NBC News.

While posting a screenshot of the misleading NBC article, Hillary Clinton wrote on X, “Birthright citizenship is enshrined in the Constitution. Trump may want to read it.” Yet, neither she nor NBC quoted the Constitution.

and this,

On May 30, 1866, Republican Senator Jacob Howard of Michigan introduced the 14th Amendment in the U.S. Senate and defined the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction” by stating:

This will not, of course, include persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers accredited to the Government of the United States, but will include every other class of persons.

plus,

Notably, the 14th Amendment doesn’t prohibit federal legislators from granting citizenship to people not included in its birthright citizenship clause. This occurred in 1924 when Congress passed and President Calvin Coolidge signed a law that awarded U.S. citizenship to all “non-citizen Indians born within the territorial limits of the United States.” Conversely, no such legislation has been passed for the children of illegal immigrants or tourists.