Larry your commentary is spot on, but it misses a couple of very important point. One is the 14th Amendment was preceded by The Civil Rights Act of 1866 that act is still on the books and it's language is very similar to that of the 14th it states: Be it enacted . . . , That all persons born in the United States and not subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed, are hereby declared to be citizens of the United States. The phrase not subject to any foreign power and subject to the jurisdiction have been grossly misinterpreted by the courts.
Congress didn't mean those terms to only apply to the children of foreign diplomats, this is known because when the 14th was passed Native Americans were excluded because Congress deemed them subject to tribal jurisdiction, that vast majority of Native Americans aren't diplomats so it's clear Congress didn't intend it only to apply to diplomats.
Further evidence is the words of the men who wrote the 14th Amendment, namely John Bingham whom many claim is the father of the 14th Amendment, he said: Every human being born within the United States of parents not owing allegiance to any foreign sovereignty is … a natural born citizen. More evidence is in a 1786 letter to John Adams, Thomas Jefferson said Aliens are the subjects of a foreign power.
Present day legislatures also believe in order to be a US Citizen one's parents have to be US Citizens. In 2008 when concerns rose about John McCain's eligibility to be President due to his having been born in Panama Congress issued Resolution 511 whereby, they declared McCain to be a Natural Born Citizen because his parents were American Citizens. That resolution was supported by two constitutional scholars in the form of legal opinions both of which were entered into the Congressional Record.
Additionally, an 1875 Supreme Court Majority Opinion said "it was never doubted that all children born in a country of parents who were its citizens became themselves, upon their birth, citizens also. These were natives, or natural-born citizens, as distinguished from aliens or foreigners"
So, it seems very clear that Congress and the courts at the time period of when the 14th was written were in agreement that in order to qualify for citizenship one's parents must be American citizens as well.
The big question is whether SCOTUS will have the courage to rule correctly, as we have seen with DACA the court is loath to revoke anything the government bestows upon someone. A judge ruled DACA unlawful but it's still in place which makes no sense. The problem is if the court does rule that the children of illegal aliens aren't citizens it probably would result in immediate lawsuits on the grounds of the violation of the Equal Protection Clause as scores of children illegal aliens have been conferred US Citizenship in the past and SCOTUS is unlikely to revoke their citizenship.
One doubts SCOTUS will rule in the Trumps administration's but if they read the pain text of the 14th and the words of the men who authored it they reach the conclusion that it doesn't apply to the children of illegal aliens.
Larry your commentary is spot on, but it misses a couple of very important point. One is the 14th Amendment was preceded by The Civil Rights Act of 1866 that act is still on the books and it's language is very similar to that of the 14th it states: Be it enacted . . . , That all persons born in the United States and not subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed, are hereby declared to be citizens of the United States. The phrase not subject to any foreign power and subject to the jurisdiction have been grossly misinterpreted by the courts.
Congress didn't mean those terms to only apply to the children of foreign diplomats, this is known because when the 14th was passed Native Americans were excluded because Congress deemed them subject to tribal jurisdiction, that vast majority of Native Americans aren't diplomats so it's clear Congress didn't intend it only to apply to diplomats.
Further evidence is the words of the men who wrote the 14th Amendment, namely John Bingham whom many claim is the father of the 14th Amendment, he said: Every human being born within the United States of parents not owing allegiance to any foreign sovereignty is … a natural born citizen. More evidence is in a 1786 letter to John Adams, Thomas Jefferson said Aliens are the subjects of a foreign power.
Present day legislatures also believe in order to be a US Citizen one's parents have to be US Citizens. In 2008 when concerns rose about John McCain's eligibility to be President due to his having been born in Panama Congress issued Resolution 511 whereby, they declared McCain to be a Natural Born Citizen because his parents were American Citizens. That resolution was supported by two constitutional scholars in the form of legal opinions both of which were entered into the Congressional Record.
Additionally, an 1875 Supreme Court Majority Opinion said "it was never doubted that all children born in a country of parents who were its citizens became themselves, upon their birth, citizens also. These were natives, or natural-born citizens, as distinguished from aliens or foreigners"
So, it seems very clear that Congress and the courts at the time period of when the 14th was written were in agreement that in order to qualify for citizenship one's parents must be American citizens as well.
The big question is whether SCOTUS will have the courage to rule correctly, as we have seen with DACA the court is loath to revoke anything the government bestows upon someone. A judge ruled DACA unlawful but it's still in place which makes no sense. The problem is if the court does rule that the children of illegal aliens aren't citizens it probably would result in immediate lawsuits on the grounds of the violation of the Equal Protection Clause as scores of children illegal aliens have been conferred US Citizenship in the past and SCOTUS is unlikely to revoke their citizenship.
One doubts SCOTUS will rule in the Trumps administration's but if they read the pain text of the 14th and the words of the men who authored it they reach the conclusion that it doesn't apply to the children of illegal aliens.