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To: AZRepublican
What Wong Kim Ark court ruled is *domiciled* persons should be considered under the jurisdiction of the U.S. National law after Kim Ark continued to treat children born to aliens as aliens.

Wong Kim Ark declared unambiguously that all persons in the United States, who are not (1) Indians (2) Diplomats or (3) Foreign Belligerents are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Don't believe me? Go to the library and look up a copy of the Supreme Court's decision yourself:

The real object of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, in qualifying the words 'all persons born in the United States,' by the addition, 'and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,' would appear to have been to exclude, by the fewest and fittest words (besides children of members of the Indian tribes, standing in particular relation to the national government, unknown to the common law), the two classes of cases -- children born of alien enemies in hostile occupation, and children of diplomatic representatives of a foreign state -- both of which... from the time of the first settlement of the English colonies in America, had been recognized exceptions to the fundamental rule of citizenship by birth within the country.

In all honesty, this was settled law long before the 14th Amendment. In fact, John Marshall recognized birthright citizenship as a fundamental right under the Constitution as early as 1804 in Murray v. The Charming Betsy. All the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment did was to clarify that birthright citizenship, which had long applied to the children of aliens who traveled to the United States voluntarily (regardless of status), also applied to blacks.

If you think the Court made a mistake in United States v. Wong Kim Ark in recognizing automatic birthright citizenship, then I'd encourage you to attempt to get the present court to overturn that 109 year old decision. Failing that, amend the United States Constitution.

103 posted on 12/09/2006 2:14:12 PM PST by Alter Kaker ("Whatever tears one sheds, in the end one always blows one's nose." - Heine)
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To: Alter Kaker
Why amend the constitution when no one bothers with its spelled out limitations as it is? Why cannot I expect the constitution to be upheld as it is written now, as its history demands by those who framed it, and by two previous supreme court rulings that upheld the intent and words of the citizenship clause?

Quoting "Why U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark Can Never Be Considered Settled Birthright Law" such clear operation of the clause is well spelled out by the guy who wrote it:

"To make matters even worst for the court, Howard goes on to say in May of 1868 that the 'Constitution as now amended, forever withholds the right of citizenship in the case of accidental birth of a child belonging to foreign parents within the limits of the country.'"

116 posted on 12/10/2006 2:11:36 PM PST by AZRepublican ("The degree in which a measure is necessary can never be a test of the legal right to adopt it.")
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