An executive order would kick-start a legal fight that could lead to a Supreme Court ruling.

Summary

Donald Trump has pledged to end birthright citizenship through an executive order if re-elected, targeting the 14th Amendment’s provision that grants citizenship to all born in the U.S.

Critics argue this policy would defy the Constitution, specifically its post-Civil War intent to ensure citizenship for former slaves.

Legal experts widely agree that the Amendment’s language includes children born to undocumented parents, but Trump’s proposal could lead to an immediate legal battle.

The policy would require federal agencies to verify parents’ immigration status, complicating access to Social Security numbers and passports for U.S.-born children.

  • Rivalarrival@lemmy.todayEnglish
    8·
    3 days ago

    The 14th amendment does not say it only applies to certain people or under certain circumstances.

    It does have one circumstance:

    All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

    I’m trying to figure out how they will argue that immigrants are not “subject to the jurisdiction thereof”.

    • evatronic@lemm.eeEnglish
      5·
      2 days ago

      If they aren’t, then border patrol would have no grounds to detain them. ICE could not deport them…

      • Rivalarrival@lemmy.todayEnglish
        3·
        2 days ago

        Try this on for size: Trump follows Texas’s lead, and declares them to be invaders. Enemy combatants aren’t subject to the laws of the nation they are invading.

        Trump can argue that Border Patrol is performing a military role, rather than a law enforcement role.

    • roscoe@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      4·
      2 days ago

      I’ve only heard that applied to foreign diplomats. Because the parents have diplomatic immunity, they and their children aren’t “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”