Determining citizenship based on a birth certificate alone simplifies things immensely. Unfortunately, we no longer live in a world where that’s sustainable.
President Trump’s executive order interpreting the 14th Amendment’s “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” qualifier as not including people here illegally or on nonimmigrant visas may not succeed in changing current practice. In fact, I expect the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Roberts, will punt on the issue, pointing to Section 5 of the amendment, which says, “The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.” In other words, a law is required, not an executive order.
But whatever the immediate outcome, the president has already succeeded in bringing the citizenship question to the center of our political debate.
