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Now that quote is a much stronger argument for the proposition that the children of illegals should not get automatic birth-right citizenship. Personally, I think Congress could resolve the question with a simple statute, stating that foreign citizens are not considered "subject to the jurisdiction of the United States" for the purposes of the 14th amendment unless they are legal permanent residents. And then include a clause in the statute denying the judicial branch jurisdiction over that statute.

A few days ago I conceived of what I regarded as a clever plan.

The 14th amendment is understood to not grant citizenship to Indians born in the United States. The Supreme Court took up this issue with Elk v Willkins and ruled that Indians are not citizens because they are not subject to the Jurisdiction of the United States.

This state of affairs continued from 1868 to 1924 when congress passed the "Indian Citizenship Act of 1924." Thereafter, Indians born in the United States were US Citizens.

My clever idea is to repeal the Indian Citizenship act of 1924. This act no longer serves any purpose because all Indians Born after 1924 are US Citizens, and therefore all their children will be US Citizens too. The Only exception would be Indians born before 1924 who are having children, and I expect that to be a very small number. :)

This would simply reset the law to what it was prior to 1924. It would clearly prevent citizenship to any Indians born here to non-US Citizen parents.

This is the clever part. Most of the people sneaking across the border are Central and South American Indians.

It would make the law clear that they cannot be granted citizenship, and after people have time to think about it, they will realize the same standard must apply to any foreign entrant that is not legally domiciled in this country.

It will be a slap across the face that wakes everyone up. It will make clear what the law originally was, and in such a manner that the courts would be powerless to stop it.

Indians were clearly denied citizenship after the 14th amendment was passed, and the 14th amendment clearly allows this.

The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 granted citizenship to about 125,000 of 300,000 indigenous people in the United States. To put these numbers in perspective, the U.S. population at that time was less than 125 million. The indigenous people who were not included in citizenship numbers had ALREADY BECOME CITIZENS BY OTHER MEANS; entering the armed forces, giving up tribal affiliations, and assimilating into mainstream American life were the primary ways this was done.

Citizenship was granted in a piecemeal fashion before the Act, which was the first more inclusive method of granting Native American citizenship. The Act did not include citizens born before the effective date of the 1924 act, or outside of the United States as an indigenous person, however, and it was not until the Nationality Act of 1940 that all persons born on U.S. soil were citizens.