Trump opposes the 14th Amendment’s clause that if you are born in the U.S. you are an American citizen. He is not the first president to oppose it. President Andrew Johnson complained that under the 14th Amendment, even Chinese born in the U.S. would be citizens. Johnson was correct, but the President can’t veto amendments to the Constitution.
Trump, of course, thinks he can, and issued an executive order that “birthright citizenship,” as it is often called, is void. Something like 21 states have now adopted policies following Trump’s lead. A district court said they couldn’t do that. The Supreme Court has now ruled that a district court can’t determine law for the entire country.
So now, if I have this right, in some states, like Texas and Florida, even if you re born here, you won’t necessarily be an American citizen. In other states, like Pennsylvania, you would be. I don’t know how this will work in practice, but it has to be one of the worst interpretations of the U.S. Constitution since Plessey v. Ferguson. or the Dred Scot decision.
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