Question about Citizenship and 14th Amendment [View all]

[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.

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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!!