Yesterday
the President said he could, with an executive order, end birthright
citizenship. It was red meat thrown to conservatives who helped elect him, in
part, based on promised immigration reform and his promise to build a wall on
our southern border.
Let’s take a
look at the 14th amendment, which was ratified following the Civil
War to insure the abolition of slavery and establish civil and legal rights
for African American slaves.
The amendment
says-----“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to
the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and or the state
where they reside.”
Pretty
plain. People born here are citizens. That amendment was born 150 years ago and
the Congress could not have anticipated thousands of Central Americans
launching themselves at our border. If they get in----and have a child----by
law---that child is a citizen. It doesn’t make sense…..but once again….the words
in the Constitution don’t lie.
I think the
president is bluffing. I think he knows he can’t ultimately win because it will
be litigated all the way to the Supreme Court. And…I’m not a fan of
presidential executive orders. I can’t think of one signed by President Obama
that was good for the country.
Donald Trump
and the Republicans have squandered the last two years when they had both the
legislative and executive branches and a mandate to fix a terribly broken
immigration system. Next Tuesday the American people will speak to the issues when they go to the polls to
re-populate Congress.
In the
meantime, re-interpreting the meaning of the Constitution by using his pen does
not really serve the President or the country…
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