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Trump’s Unconstitutional Attack on Birthright Citizenship

Source: reason.com - Tuesday, October 30, 2018
In 1868, the U.S. Constitution was formally amended to enshrine the principle of birthright citizenship. "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof," declares the 14th Amendment, "are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." To say the least, Donald Trump is not a fan of that particular constitutional provision. "A woman gets pregnant. She's nine months, she walks across the border, she has the baby in the United States, and we take care of the baby for 85 years. I don't think so," then-candidate Trump complained in 2015. President Trump has apparently decided that now is the time to do something about it. "We're the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States...with all of those benefits," Trump told Axios yesterday. "It's ridiculous. And it has to end." How does Trump plan to end it? "It's in the process. It'll happen...with an executive order." There's just one problem with Trump's plan to abolish birthright citizenship via executive order: It would be flatly unconstitutional. Indeed, whether Trump and his supporters like it or not, the text and history of the 14th Amendment are clear: If a child is born on U.S. soil, and that child's parents don't happen to be diplomats, foreign ministers, or invading foreign troops, then that child is a U.S. citizen by virtue of bir

Source: Breaking News

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