Commentary: Trump is Right, Ending Birthright Citizenship is Constitutional

by Hans von Spakovsky   President Donald Trump’s announcement Tuesday that he is preparing an executive order to end birthright citizenship has the left and even some conservatives in an uproar. But the president is correct when he says that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution does not require universal birthright citizenship. An executive order by Trump ending birthright citizenship would face a certain court challenge that would wind up in the Supreme Court. But based on my research of this issue over several years, I believe the president’s view is consistent with the view of the framers of the amendment. Those who claim the 14th Amendment mandates that anyone born in the U.S. is automatically an American citizen are misinterpreting the amendment in a manner inconsistent with the intent of the amendment’s framers. Universal birthright citizenship attracts illegal immigration. By granting immediate citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil, regardless of the legal status of the parents, we reward and encourage illegal and exploitative immigration. Most countries around the world do not provide birthright citizenship. We do so based not upon the requirements of federal law or the Constitution, but based upon an erroneous executive interpretation. That should be…

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Tennessee Star Report Interview: President of Just Facts, James Agresti, Argues the 14th Amendment Birthright Interpretation

On Friday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – the duo spoke with James Agresti, the President of JustFacts, a public policy think tank and the author of “Rational Conclusions.”  The men discussed the 14th amendment and it’s current misinterpretation.  Aresti took a moment to properly explain the amendment and how it pertains to birthright and his disdain for the media’s dishonesty in explaining it to the public. Leahy:  Welcome James. Agresti: Steve and Michael, thank you for having me on. Leahy:  So my question to you James is how did somebody go to Brown University, the Ivy Leagues’ leftist, most left wing institution, and that’s saying something.  How did someone go to Brown University and come out rational and a conservative? Agresti:  I’ll tell ya. I went in with some rationality.  I came from a family of business people.  Very practical, hardworking people.  When I witnessed some of the nonsense that went on there it made me even more strident in my views. Leahy:  What are your college reunions like?  (Laughter) Agresti: Pretty interesting.  We all get along…

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Tennessee Star Report Exclusive Interview – Ann Coulter on the 14th Amendment: ‘An Executive Order Absolutely Works’ to End Birthright Citizenship

On Thursday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Steve Gill spoke to good friend Ann Coulter about the 14th amendment and it’s current interpretation.  Coulter and Gill discussed the birthing centers in southern California and the need to create a federal law rather than an executive order, as Trump will not be President forever. Gill: Ok, this 14th amendment that Paul Ryan is saying well he believes in reading the words of the Constitution.  And yet he apparently hasn’t read the 14th amendment because it makes it pretty clear that unless your here legally, it wasn’t intended that the 14th amendment would apply, it was intended to give a guarantee of citizenship status to the well slaves that America had just freed through a Civil War. How do you think this will play out?  Does it go through the courts, does it go through Congress, does an executive order work? Coulter: Yes, an executive order absolutely works because no Supreme Court and no Congressional law has ever found that the children born to illegal aliens are United States…

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Despite the Media-Driven Rhetoric, the Constitution’s 14th Amendment Does Not Grant ‘Birthright Citizenship’

young children

by James D. Agresti   Michael Anton, a former national security official in the Trump administration, recently argued in a Washington Post op-ed that the current federal practice of granting citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants “is an absurdity—historically, constitutionally, philosophically and practically.” A number of media outlets have published fiery rebuttals declaring that Anton is dead wrong. They claim that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives citizenship to all children born in the U.S., except for the children of diplomats. However, the legislative history of the 14th Amendment proves that it does not award citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants or anyone who is not legally and permanently residing in the United States. Background In 1866, shortly after the Civil War ended and slavery was abolished, a bloc of Congressmen called the “Radical Republicans“ passed a civil rights law to ensure that African Americans had the “full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of person and property, as is enjoyed by white citizens….” This law applied to former slaves but not to foreigners, and thus, it stated that: all persons born in the United States and not subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed, are hereby declared to…

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Despite the Media-Driven Rhetoric, the Constitution’s 14th Amendment Does Not Grant ‘Birthright Citizenship’

young children

by James D. Agresti   Michael Anton, a former national security official in the Trump administration, recently argued in a Washington Post op-ed that the current federal practice of granting citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants “is an absurdity—historically, constitutionally, philosophically and practically.” A number of media outlets have published fiery rebuttals declaring that Anton is dead wrong. They claim that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives citizenship to all children born in the U.S., except for the children of diplomats. However, the legislative history of the 14th Amendment proves that it does not award citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants or anyone who is not legally and permanently residing in the United States. Background In 1866, shortly after the Civil War ended and slavery was abolished, a bloc of Congressmen called the “Radical Republicans“ passed a civil rights law to ensure that African Americans had the “full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of person and property, as is enjoyed by white citizens….” This law applied to former slaves but not to foreigners, and thus, it stated that: all persons born in the United States and not subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed, are hereby declared to…

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