[Founding Father]

Wake up Scalia, Thomas, etc.

[savedbygrace]

To study later. Sounds intriguing.

[Andy from Beaverton]

My grandma was born in Oregon City in the 1890's. She married a citizen of Germany in the early 20's. She lost her citizenship and had to reapply during WWII in order to get food rations during the war.

[Ahban]

Great catch

[dagnabbit]

You presume we still have a constitution, when what we really have now are just some fancy old papers, used primarily as tea cozies by the members of our Supreme Super-Legislature.

[Publius6961]

This, to me, seems clear enough and beyond any argument; how any court could twist the meaning to mean the direct opposite should be a fascinating story:

This will not, of course, include persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers accredited to the Government of the United States, but will include every other class of persons.

[Mgm3com]

What if one of the parents is a citizen and the other is not but the child is born in the U.S., is the child then an American Citizen or not?

[Congressman Billybob]

I put this precise point in my column this week. I also pointed out that Congress has the power, now, to cure the problem of "anchor babies" by legislation.

Citizenship by alien birth in the US geographically does NOT have to wait for a cure from the Supreme Court. It can be done by Congress. Click below for examples.

Congressman Billybob

Latest column, "Double Crossing at the Rio Grande II."

[CarolinaGuitarman]

While I agree with your desire to not have citizenship be granted in so arbitrary a manner as it is now, unfortunately, the 14th amendment does not put any such restrictions on citizenship. The framers of the 14th amendment may have WANTED to bar the children of non-citizens to automatically become citizens upon birth here, that may have been their intent, but they didn't write it into the amendment itself. All it says is, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the States wherein they reside". There doesn't seem to be any ambiguity; if you are born here you are a citizen. If the writers of the amendment were so strongly for barring foreigner's children from becoming automatic citizens, they should have made that explicit. They didn't. What is needed is an amendment that actually clarifies this point.

[Prost1]

Any 1st year history student knows that children are minors and have no legal standing. They are under the authority of their parents, who being legal citizens of a country, are automatically a legal obligation of their parent's country.

The U.S. is probably (100%) the only country in the world to offer citizenship to children born to illegal criminals.

Absurd!

[The_Media_never_lie]

I was told by a young Coast Guard ensign (female) that, during the Haitian crisis, the Hatians who were rescued from their ramshackle flotilla would have sex onboard the deck of their rescuing U.S. ships with women in their late stages of pregnancy. Reason being, besides the obvious, was that they though that the sex would induce labor and the child born on the deck of a U.S. ship would become an automatic U.S. citizen.

Can someone please tell me why?

[PistolPaknMama]

Fascinating. Thanks for posting this.

[Radioactive]

It's about time.

This idea of being a citizen just because you were dropped on this soil is killing our country.

If the Supreme court will not rule correctly, they should be removed from office.

I for the life of me cannot figure out why the Republicans cannot see this issue as one of the main issues that the American People want action on.

If they do not act, they will be out of here.

[zook]

Ridiculous. The 14th Amendment says what it says, not what it doesn't say, regardless of the intent of its authors.

[MikefromOhio]

I am somewhat opposite...

I was born in West Germany when my dad was deployed over there in 1980. I had, until I was 18, both United States (born to a serviceman overseas) and German citizenship. Of course I picked the US citizenship, but this isnt just a US thing.

[traviskicks]

The founding fathers didn't ever envision immigration being stymied. And for good reason.

(IMO) These anti-immigration attitudes are symptomatic of the protectionist nature and another symptom of BIG government. I think illegals contribute far more then they take away from society and boost our economy.

Let people come here and create wealth. We are the light that lights the world.

(easy on the flaming...:))

[jslade]

bump for later.

[kennyo]

There should only be citizens of states.The "citizens" of the federal government are the states themselves through their duly elected representatives.

[djreece]

marking

[ZULU]

"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen..."

So WHEN are they going to elimiate the scharade of dual citizenship?

A man cannot serve two masters.

[Roy Tucker]

Good post. I am a proponent of increased legal immigration. However, I think the automatic granting of citizenship is absolutely one of the stupidest abuses of the Constitution (among many).
Take the case, where a couple comes to the US on a tourist visa from abroad (perfectly legally). She hides her pregnancy or doesn't show. She can overstay her visa or possibly extend, have the baby in the US and the baby in entitled to US citizenship. The parents having secured a US passport for their child go back to their home country, never paying taxes in the US and raising their children outside of the US. We are producing citizens who know nothing of the US and are not even living there at any time.