Wow!!! Trump Solicitor General D. John Sauer Suggested Native Americans Might Not Be Birthright Citizens

[DemocratSinceBirth]

[drray23]

1. Well giving that he is arguing a completly senseless position

He ends up with idiotic statements like that one.

[Ilsa]

2. Finally one of the justices told him,

'that is correct' when Sauer finally concluded that Native Americans were citizens by birthright.

"Tourism birthright"? How many per year are born here under such plans?

[musette_sf]

10. Pretty sure I read about Russian Anchor Baby houses

in Florida some time back. Russian women are hosted at Trump hotels to birth US citizens.

https://theweek.com/speedreads/748344/russian-birth-tourists-are-flocking-miami-trump-condos-give-birth-american-citizens

[Ilsa]

12. I heard that as well. Oligarchs' families. nt

[kysrsoze]

3. That's so messed up. They should have some super-citizen priveleges, IMO, given how we stole their land.

[Ocelot II]

4. Yes, they are.

https://narf.org/the-indian-citizenship-act-at-100-years-old/

[LeftInTX]

15. The 1940 immigration act also codified that anyone born in the "jurisdiction of" was a US citizen.

Obviously, the intent of the law confers birthright citizenship to just about everyone who is not the kid of a diplomat, foreign occupying power and foreign military stationed in the US.

Since 1940 everyone gets a birth certificate and citizenship, except the listed exceptions. So that is what the law intended and that was how it was implemented. Hence this was what "jurisdiction of" meant to congress. Trump just can't over ride a law via an EO. (Well, he can, but it isn't easy) It's one thing to get the Constitution reinterpreted, it's another thing to override an 86 year old ironclad law that is that basis for a good chunk of bureaucracy in the US.

It could be interpreted as "spirit of the law" vs "letter of the law", and I'm sure Alito and Thomas will split hairs, but if you look at the bureaucracy involved, I think SOTUS doesn't want Trump to overturn a long standing working statute.

§ 601. Persons born nationals and citizens.
The following shall be nationals and citizens of
the United States at birth:
(a) A person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof;
(b) A person born in the United States to a member of an Indian, Eskimo, Aleutian, or other aboriginal tribe: Provided, That the granting of citizenship under this subsection shall not in any manner
impair or otherwise affect the right of such person
to tribal or other property;
(c) A person born outside of the United States
and its outlying possessions of parents both of
whom are citizens of the United States and one
of whom has resided in the United States or one
of its outlying possessions, prior to the birth of
such person;
(d) A person born outside of the United States
and its outlying possessions of parents one of whom
is a citizen of the United States who resided in the
United States or one of its outlying possessions prior
to the birth of such person, and the other of whom
is a national, but not a citizen of the United States

https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/uscode/uscode1940-00100/uscode1940-001008011/uscode1940-001008011.pdf

[bucolic_frolic]

5. They're hoping to tilt the vote in NM and other states

by shrinking the native American vote. Transparent..

[WhiskeyGrinder]

6. Imagine saying that to Neil Actual Gorsuch

[newdeal2]

7. Hope that means one more vote for the sane side nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. Ken White (Popehat)'s comment:

GORSUCH: Do you think Native Americans are birthright citizens under your test?

SAUER: Ah, I think ... so. I have to think that through.

Just so you understand, this is as if you prepared for argument in front of a panel that included Cookie Monster, and Cookie Monster asked you a question about cookies, and you had not thought about cookies in advance.

Just so you understand, this is as if you prepared for argument in front of a panel that included Cookie Monster, and Cookie Monster asked you a question about cookies, and you had not thought about cookies in advance.

— A New And More Reasonable Popehat (@kenwhite.bsky.social) 2026-04-01T15:16:10.865Z

and later:

"To be completely fair to Sauer, there's no way to come prepare adequately to defend a stupid, ahistorical, illogical, bad faith argument. Winning on one depends on stupid or dishonest judges."

[GusBob]

8. May I ask: in what context, or what was his claim?

Is it because of 'sovereign' nation claims?

[lame54]

9. Did they come over on The Mayflower?...

'Nuff said

[Ms. Toad]

11. That is consistent with one of the arguments I've heard -

That, under the Constitution, they weren't (Elk v Wilkins - they are members of a sovereign nation, and thus aren't subject to the jurisdiction of the US). It took an act of Congress (Snyder Act) to make them citizens.

Since they brought up that case/argument, I'm shocked they weren't prepared to respond to it.

[In It to Win It]

13. IIRC, Congress passed legislation that was ultimately signed into law that gave Native Americans birthright citizenship