Question about Citizenship and 14th Amendment

[tomm2thumbs]

There has been a lot of new discussion regarding birthright citizenship, so I located the text in question from the 14th Amendment (below):

"Section 1. 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. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

Some legal folks say the phrase 'and subject to the jurisdiction thereof' could be the pivotal part of the amendment, with Congress declaring simply in some new piece of legislation that 'citizens of other countries, or their progeny, who are in the country illegally are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States for the purposes of citizenship".

It may not sound reasonable that a Congressional Act could affect details of the 14th Amendment, but up until the Indian Citizen Act or Snyder Act was passed by Congress to further define the 14th Amendment (1924), this was the case for native indigenous peoples/Indians -- as they were subject to the laws of their own tribes. The act stated:

BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and house of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all non citizen Indians born within the territorial limits of the United States be, and they are hereby, declared to be citizens of the United States: Provided That the granting of such citizenship shall not in any manner impair or otherwise affect the right of any Indian to tribal or other property."

Mainly, just want to find out what angle the candidates are talking about that would make it do'able or not. I don't think there would be any possibility of a new Constitutional Amendment, so figuring they have some plan otherwise to define the current one.

_______

also, if anyone knows the context of this Harry Ried video, would love to know more. I keep hearing it thrown out there by the other side so found the short clip, but am curious about a longer version so I can get more of the context.

Thanks for any and all info!!

[msongs]

1. subject to the jurisdiction of means if US laws control you, you are subject to the jurisdiction of

as in, the law says if you are born here and you are an illegal immigrant, you have become a citizen. congratulations, citizen

[tomm2thumbs]

4. wondering if they are going to take the 'enemy combatant' type of track

basically saying there is a nether-jurisdiction, which they define in some strange act which would not require a change of the 14th Amendment's wording, but serves to define it in law

[elleng]

2. Some discussion here:

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/fourteenth+amendment

[tomm2thumbs]

3. thanks!

[PoliticAverse]

5. Reid actually introduced legislation in 1993 to clarify the 14th amendment...

and eliminate automatic citizenship for children born of parents not legally in the US.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d103:S1351:

S.1351
Latest Title: Immigration Stabilization Act of 1993
Sponsor: Sen Reid, Harry [NV] (introduced 8/4/1993)

SEC. 1001. BASIS OF CITIZENSHIP CLARIFIED.

In the exercise of its powers under section 5 of the Fourteenth Article of Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the Congress has determined and hereby declares that any person born after the date of enactment of this title to a mother who is neither a citizen of the United States nor admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident, and which person is a national or citizen of another country of which either of his or her natural parents is a national or citizen, or is entitled upon application to become a national or citizen of such country, shall be considered as born subject to the jurisdiction of that foreign country and not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States within the meaning of section 1 of such Article and shall therefore not be a citizen of the United States or of any State solely by reason of physical presence within the United States at the moment of birth.

[tomm2thumbs]

6. thanks, that was really helpful

sounds like the approach the Republicans would use then. And they'd probably continue to point at Reid and others to say 'it was good enough for the Democrats in 1993'