Free Republic

It is broadly agreed by constitutional scholars that the purpose of the Fourteenth Amendment was to constitutionalize the Civil Rights Act of 1866. Many in Congress initially argued that the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865 granted citizenship and the rights and liberties attached to that status. Others argued that there should be explicit legislation, which resulted in the Civil Rights Act the following year. Still others thought the Civil Rights Act was insufficient because future majorities could repeal it. This concern became the impetus for the Fourteenth Amendment, which constitutionalized the Civil Rights Act.The citizenship clause was a...

Since the first days of his second term as president, Donald Trump has been pushing back against a constitutional right he says has been taken advantage of for too long - what he calls "Birthright Citizenship." A new analysis from Pew Research shows, following a 40 percent drop from 2006 to 2016, a rapid rise in the number of births to unauthorized mothers in the United States from 2019 to 2023, which means about 9% of all 3.6 million babies born were to authorized immigrant mothers or those with temporary legal status. (TNND) “It had to do with the babies...

Nearly 10% of US births in 2023 came from illegal immigrant mothers, according to newly published research. Pew Research Center revealed that 320,000 of the 3.6 million babies born in the US that year were anchor babies who would not qualify for birthright citizenship if President Trump’s executive order is upheld by the Supreme Court. “Under the current erroneous birthright citizenship interpretation, these children automatically become citizens and unlock food stamps, welfare, specialized schooling for English education, and eventually college aid,” Brandy Perez Carbaugh of the Heritage Foundation told The Post. Nearly 10% of US births in 2023 came from...

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the constitutionality of President Trump’s executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship as we have known it. The court’s eventual opinion in the case, Trump v. Barbara, will almost certainly hinge on how the justices interpret the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause, which says: “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.” The court will probably also respond to the first words of the president’s March 19 brief, which asserts that...

<p>The 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause was a surgical remedy for the unique injustice inflicted on freed black slaves and their descendants — not a blank check for the world’s opportunists. Unless the Court restores its original meaning, this misapplied policy will accelerate the erosion of everything that makes America worth defending.</p>

As birthright citizenship is debated in the Supreme Court, resurfaced videos of top Democrats echoing the argument of the Trump administration sparked a conservative uproar on social media. "If making it easy to be an illegal alien isn’t enough, how about offering a reward for being an illegal immigrant?" Sen. Harry Reid said on the Senate floor in 1993. "No sane country would do that. Right? Guess again. If you break our laws by entering this country without permission and give birth to a child, we reward that child with U.S. citizenship and [a] guarantee of full access to all...

The case against birthright citizenship seems straightforward and persuasive. Is it really right for an eight-month pregnant Mexican woman to illegally cross the Rio Grande, give birth, and be allowed to stay in America because her newborn child is now a natural born citizen? By the same token, is it just for a Chinese millionaire to have 100 children by surrogacy, arrange for them to be born in the US, and then move them back to China, where they are now US citizens and can later vote in US elections? That’s crazy, right? And these are not hypothetical or imaginary...

What do you have in common with New York City's Mayor Zohran Mamdani? The country has been on pins and needles in recent weeks, as the Supreme Court weighs a decision about birthright citizenship, which is a question that has persisted throughout every living American’s life, though it seems to me that it never should have been. First, let’s consider the framers’ intent. The Fourteenth Amendment is clearly directed toward ensuring that slaves born in America, whose forebears were of African origin, would be considered American citizens after the Civil War. We know this to be a fact because many...

[snip] Hill introduced Shan Wu as a “defense attorney and former federal prosecutor”—leaving viewers unaware that he served as a prosecutor and adviser to Janet Reno in the Clinton Justice Department. Wu dismissed arguments advanced by John Eastman as “pretty unsound,” before escalating: SHAN WU: The very creation of the 14th Amendment was meant to combat racism. And really, implicitly, people who are challenging that clause are really espousing a racist viewpoint. It’s very hard to get around that… just because you have a legal argument doesn’t mean it’s not racist.Rather than challenge the sweeping accusation, like this argument couldn't...

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday on the Trump administration’s challenge to the decades-long practice of interpreting the 14th Amendment to allow foreigners to obtain American citizenship simply by being born within the boundaries of the country. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of this view, allowing any foreigner circumstantially (or intentionally) born on U.S. soil to be automatically adopted into the Union as a citizen, it will mean the end of actual American citizens taking the high court seriously. As Justice Clarence Thomas pointed out, the purpose of the 14th Amendment was to grant citizenship to...

During oral arguments at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson made her case for why the children of foreign tourists ought to qualify for birthright American citizenship if they are born in the United States while their parents are on vacation. The case, known as Trump v. Barbara, will decide whether or not President Donald Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship for the U.S.-born children of illegal aliens and foreign tourists, often referred to as “anchor babies,” is constitutional. […] “I was thinking about this and I think there are various sources that say this, that...

If you thought Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson had already set the bar low for her performance during oral arguments, she managed to make herself look even worse during the Supreme Court’s birthright citizenship case. The case centers on President Donald Trump’s executive order challenging the modern (mis)interpretation of birthright citizenship. During questioning, Jackson tried to redefine the concept of allegiance to a country by comparing it to being subject to local laws while traveling abroad. "I was thinking, you know, I'm a U.S. citizen, am visiting Japan. And what it means is that, you know, if I steal someone's wallet...

President Donald Trump made an extraordinary appearance Wednesday for Supreme Court arguments — an American presidential first — as his administration seeks to unwind birthright citizenship during two hours of dramatic oral arguments. The Supreme Court voiced strong pushback against efforts to restrict who can be called an American, a politically divisive case over automatic citizenship for some children born in the United States to foreign nationals. Trump, wearing a red tie and dark suit, entered the courtroom around nine minutes before the court gaveled into session and did not speak during the session, per court rules.... Trump heard a...

Today, the Supreme Court will decide on Trump v. Barbara, a new challenge to “birthright citizenship,” so in that spirit, here are some facts about birthright citizenship from a simple internet search: The concept of birthright citizenship is based on an 1898 SCOTUS decision (United States v. Wong Kim Ark) when there were no planes allowing the entire third world to rush in, and birth tourism didn’t exist. Very few countries in the world allow birthright citizenship. European countries don’t allow it, nor do Japan, China, Great Britain, or Australia. Pew estimates around five million anchor babies are living with...

President Donald Trump has said he plans to attend the US Supreme Court arguments on Wednesday on whether the US should end its longstanding right to citizenship for anyone born in the country. On his first day back in office, he ordered an end to automatic - or birthright - citizenship for babies born to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily. His executive order faced immediate opposition from those who said it went against the constitution's amendment that grants citizenship to anyone born in US territory. The Trump administration says the order will combat "significant threats to...

Democrats love screaming ‘14th Amendment guarantees birthright citizenship to everyone born here!’.. But look what the actual author of the Citizenship Clause, Senator Jacob Howard (R-MI), said in 1866: ‘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… but will include every other class of persons.’

The Court will hear oral arguments this morning at 10:00 in Trump v. Barbara. Issue(s): Whether Executive Order No. 14,160 complies on its face with the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment and with 8 U.S.C. § 1401(a), which codifies that clause.The key arguments in the birthright citizenship case here:.Key ArgumentsAudio of oral arguments here:Supreme CourtCspanScotusblog is liveblogging here:liveblog

Trump-appointed Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch roasted Solicitor General John Sauer over the citations in his argument during oral arguments in the highly-anticipated birthright citizenship on Wednesday. Trump signed an executive order ending birthright citizenship during the first days of his second term, which was promptly blocked by a lower court in a ruling that was upheld by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case — Trump v. Barbara — on Wednesday morning, with Trump in attendance. While it’s tough to forecast based on questioning, things did not...

WASHINGTON — One of President Trump’s most ambitious policy endeavors — his effort to end birthright citizenship — is set to face its moment of truth before the Supreme Court on Wednesday, just over a month after it axed the centerpiece of his tariff agenda. The Supreme Court will decide whether Trump’s attempt to block the kin of illegal immigrants born on US soil from automatically becoming citizens is within his power, something that is widely seen as the most consequential case left on its docket. “This is a glaring red line for the Supreme Court justices that they don’t...

Trump-hating rocker Bruce Springsteen is allowing the American Civil Liberties Union to use his iconic, if often misunderstood, America trashing Vietnam War anthem “Born in the USA” for the ACLU’s ad campaign promoting the leftist group’s birthright citizenship case set for an April 1 Supreme Court hearing challenging President Donald Trump’s 2025 executive order restricting who is eligible for birthright American citizenship. The use of Born in the USA as a patriotic song is a 180 degree reversal for Springsteen who has long downplayed the notion the song is patriotic. When Born in the USA was released in mid 1984...