A Brief Review of Nationality Law

(Mar. 20, 2026) — Author’s Note: If parents have existing foreign citizenship, the 14th Amendment ‘born in the United States’ citizenship at birth clause DOES NOT APPLY to their children. WHY? Because the child already has the citizenship of their parents. The 14th Amendment was drafted from the 1866 Civil Rights Act to ‘cure’ stateless children whose parents had no nationality to confer, NOT to create ‘dual’ or ‘hybrid’ citizens which is a Conflict of Law.

Modern nationality law began in the 1700’s, changing with the age of exploration, colonization, and the decline of feudal monarchies.

The jus feudalis ‘feudal’ law of jus soli (law of the soil) was replaced with jus sanguinis (law of blood), and this new standard was adopted by the United States, Great Britain and France.

A significant case relying on the jus soli, place of birth citizenship applied in common law, was the 1789 ‘Case of Mr. Smith,’ argued by James Madison. Madison won his case, that a colonial born child who grew up in England, his parents never allegiant to the United States, could claim the right to political office only for the fact he was born in one of the colonies, i.e., native-born. His opponent argued that he and his parents never naturalized or declared allegiance to the Declaration of Independence, as they were living in England. https://paraleaglenm.com/2011/04/29/the-first-eligibility-case-1789/ ... continue reading at: https://www.thepostemail.com/2026/03/20/a-brief-review-of-nationality-law/

Quotable Quotes: The chief author of the 14th Amendment, Sen. John A. Bingham, wrote: “Every human being born within the jurisdiction of the United States of parents not owing allegiance to any foreign sovereignty is, in the language of your Constitution itself, a natural born citizen.” Cong. Globe, 39th, 1st Sess., 1291 (1866), Sec. 1992 of U.S. Revised Statutes (1866) ... see more quotes regarding citizenship, citizenship kinds, and allegiance at: https://cdrkerchner.wordpress.com/2024/06/14/quotable-quotes-re-citizenship-kinds-allegiance-and-the-presidential-eligibility-clause-in-the-united-states-constitution/

Big News on Comprehensive Immigration Reform - Eric Swalwell
swalwell.house.gov › big-news-comprehensive-immigration-reform

As a staunch advocate for comprehensive immigration reform, there are some important developments taking place in Washington that I want to share with you.

This week, the Senate passed comprehensive immigration legislation. I support the Senate’s bipartisan bill, which provides a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living and working in our country, secures our borders and allows high-skilled workers educated in the U.S. to stay here, innovate here, and contribute to our economy.

https://swalwell.house.gov/big-news-comprehensive-immigration-reform

The 14th Amendment was drafted from the 1866 Civil Rights Act to ‘cure’ stateless children whose parents had no nationality to confer,

That’s funny, I thought it was drafted to confer citizenship on the newly freed ex-slaves and to overturn the SCOTUS decision in the Dred Scott case that excluded blacks from citizenship in the United States and the states.

I’ve never been keen on the idea of dual citizenship. Up to me, I would push for laws to abolish it thusly:

If you are a current citizen of the United States, and you apply, receive, and accept citizenship from a secondary nation, your citizenship in the United States will be deemed to have dissolved. It will be up to you to resolve any outstanding business with the United States within 30 days and exit its borders within that timeframe.
Any expatriate so leaving the United States must wait a period of three years before re-applying for citizenship again.
Any current citizen of the United States who also enjoys dual, hybrid, or any other such citizenship with any secondary nation (even if the laws of that secondary nation permit such), must within 60 days decide to either:
- Legally dissolve citizenship with that secondary nation, and provide legal proof of such, or…
- Conclude any and all business within the United States and leave its borders within the time period, and formally dissolve citizenship with the United States. That individual may re-apply for United States citizenship after a period of three years.
- Any individual who fails to take either action within 60 days will automatically have their citizenship in the United States dissolved and will face deportation. If deported, that individual may not be permitted to re-apply for citizenship in the United States except by permission granted directly by the President of the United States.

You made it look as if YOU and not Eric Swallwell wrote that.

11 Million? He’s missing at least two-thirds. It’s NOT the “right thing to do” as it penalizes all those who’ve jumped through the hoops and patiently waited while the gears of citizenship-conferring grind slowly.

We must return to pre-1965 standards of merit-based immigration as we stand on the cusp of technologies eliminating huge swaths of unskilled labor, leaving too many of our OWN citizens scrabbling for what positions remain.

Your comments destroy the position of your allies. Most people agree that non-citizens who have a visa have a contractual relationship that places them subject to the laws and government of the State and Feds. Their babies born in the US are subject also.

Those who don’t have a visa contract are not subject to the laws.. in the eyes of your allies. And their babies are not subject. (Of course kids of diplomats & diplomats are also not subject to the states and Feds,)

A corallary is that to be in the US is a Pprivilege and not a Right. Non-citizens have Rights but they don’t have privileges. If an illegal is deported his Privilege is removed. His Rights are not touched. But the longer a non-citizen is held in a detention center the more the issue of his Rights being violated. That then gets down to separating Murders, rapists…DUI drivers who can have their Rights abridged by a detention center from those innocent of any crime who have a Right to not be warehoused in a detention center.

You made it look as if YOU and not Eric Swallwell wrote that.

I didn’t do anything more than copy & paste a part of what
was written in the article.

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