Birthright citizenship is a noble idea and the Supreme Court should help Trump end it
Get ready for a Supreme Court showdown over President Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship — the idea that all children born in the United States have the same rights, regardless of when and how their parents arrived. Despite what many pundits and even lower court judges are saying, overturning Trump’s order is not a slam-dunk for the president’s opponents.There are powerful arguments and Supreme Court precedents on both sides.And the 1888 case most often cited by Trump’s opponents, US v.Wong Kim Ark, actually supports the president’s order.That case was 138 years ago.This year, on Jan.
20, Trump declared by executive order that babies born to illegal immigrant mothers, and lacking a father who is a citizen or legal US resident, will no longer automatically receive US citizenship.As of Feb.17, hospitals would be barred from issuing US birth certificates for these newborns, who number about 250,000 per year.Trump also took aim at birth tourism, ending automatic citizenship for the 30,000 babies born each year to women who enter the US legally on temporary visas expressly to give birth here.
Some women wade across the Rio Grande, others fly first class, but both claim citizenship for their newborns under the birthright clause of the 14th Amendment. The clause was originally proposed to guarantee citizenship to children born to former slaves, but during its drafting in 1866, Congress expanded the principle to children of any race or ethnicity born within the boundaries of the United States.Congress did not debate whether the offspring of those in the country illegally were guaranteed citizenship — because there was no such thing as illegal immigration at the time.Even the odious Chinese Exclusion Act wasn’t passed until 1882, and the US didn’t put numerical limits on immigration until 1921.Yet Trump’s executive order triggered lawsuits by 22 states, the city of San Francisco, and numerous nonprofits. Within days, federa...