By Alan Singer
The Trump and MAGA right’s attack targeting non-whites immigrants has expanded from ICE’s efforts to incarcerate and deport the undocumented and people with pending applications for permanent residence to threats to revoke the citizenship of naturalized Americans deemed to be a liability and to redefine who born in the United States is entitled to citizenship.
The United States Constitution did not define citizenship until passage of the 14th Amendment in 1868. The amendment overturned the 1857 Supreme Court Dred Scott decision that ruled that the Constitution and the nation’s founders never intended for Blacks, whether enslaved or free, to be granted citizenship. While the amendment was primarily written to protect the citizenship rights of the formerly enslaved from white-controlled Southern state governments, it was written broadly and its protections were not limited to the formerly enslaved and their children. It reads “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 Trump administration wants to narrow the meaning of the 14th amendment claiming that children of the undocumented or of people in the United States on temporary visas are not “subject” to its “jurisdiction” and therefore are not entitled to citizenship even though they were born in this country. On the face of it, their claim is absurd. Are they arguing that these groups are not “subject” to obey federal, state, and local laws and that governments do not have the “jurisdiction” to collect tolls and taxes and to punish illegal activities?
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Source: Daily Kos
Image source: clipart-library.com
Blogs, tweets, essays, and interviews presented by Dr. Singer reflect his views and not those of Hofstra University.