Trump signed the order when he returned to office for his second term. Judges around the country quickly blocked it from taking effect. “Blatantly unconstitutional” is what one of them called it.
The citizenship clause of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which was added after the Civil War, says, “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 government argued that the citizenship clause was meant to benefit newly freed slaves and their children rather than “the children of aliens who are temporarily present in the United States or of illegal aliens.” Focusing on the “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” language in the amendment, the government argued that babies born to people unlawfully or temporarily in the country aren’t “subject to the jurisdiction” of the U.S.
Much like the mail in voting ruling, while this is great that they upheld it, it absolutely never should have been a question in the first place.
And fucking 5-4. Affirming the plain reading of the Constitution with a bare majority.
I really don’t know how this country can move forward without significant reform to the court. As you said, it is a plain reading of the constitution, literally as written, and almost half of the court wanted to overturn it.
That’s an improvement, usually they rule the plain reading is wrong and the exact opposite is right.
This shouldn’t have been the nail-biter it was nor as close a vote as it was.
