Irish Central - Birthright citizenship is protected under the 14th amendment to the Constitution, which states that “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.”
Trump argues that it will be easy for legal scholars to mount a challenge to the 14th amendment as it pertains to birthright citizenship.
However, as MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell recently pointed out in a segment titled “Lessons for Trump from a 14-year-old girl,” the United States’ first high-profile case regarding birthright citizenship came over 20 years before the 14th amendment was even ratified. And it confirmed that those born in the Unites States are indeed entitled to American citizenship, and have been since the very birth of the nation.
The subject of the case? A 14-year-old Irish girl named Julia Lynch.
Julia was the niece of Thomas Lynch, co-owner of the Congress Spring mineral water company in Saratoga Springs, New York.
Thomas died in 1833, without a will or any offspring, but a left behind sizeable fortune and valuable property.
His niece, Julia, his closest living heir, immigrated to the US with her other uncle, Bernard, in 1834, having lost both of her parents a few years prior. Julia had been born in New York to Irish parents in 1819. They remained in the US for a few months following her birth and then returned to Ireland.
Julia’s inheritance hinged entirely upon whether she could be considered a citizen of the United States of America. She was born in the US, but she had never been officially naturalized.
Judge Lewis Sandford, who presided over the case, determined that Julia was indeed eligible to receive her inheritance, because she was and always had been a US citizen.
“The Constitution of the United States, as well as those of all the thirteen old states, pre-supposed the existence of the common law and was founded upon its principles,” Sandford explained in his opinion.
“It is, therefore, the law of the United States that children born here are citizens, without any regard to the political condition or allegiance of their parents.”
For O’Donnell, this is definitive proof that Trump will not be able to negotiate the 14th amendment into changing its meaning.
5 comments:
Not unlike the 'trashing' of slavery after 200 years . . . not all laws and traditions ought to be preserved.
I've seen persuasive arguments that the 14Th Amendment was a measure to prevent the continued abuse of freed slaves in the south. Further that it is stretched thin to cover the current situation of anyone born on US soil is automatically a citizen. Native Americans weren't given US citizenship until 1924? the 14TH amendment did not apply to them at all.
I also find it unhelpful in these arguments in support of the 14TH Amendment to play the game of 'enshrined in tradition and court law' and etc.. Especially since the same commentators are derisive of tradition and time and practice if the law or amendment under question is one they want repealed, revoked, overruled and forgotten. Consider the number of people who would want the 2ND amendment to fade in to our rich history as just one prominent example.
Looking forward to some miraculous day when we have sane people in Congress to challenge the Patriot Act or even Citizens United.. we'll be harangued by elderly statesmen on the rich traditions and history behind these cherished statutes! some will surely remember the young girl whose life was changed and saved by a pat on the head from Antonin Scalia himself! we could never attempt to undo the works of such a saint. ;)
Thanks.
Anonymous said... ".. not all laws and traditions ought to be preserved."
Absolutely! my point exactly.
Thanks very much.
Trump is playing the old slavery card, that slaves born in USA were still African visitors. Challenges the 14th amendment to get a loophole for those underpaid Poles he hired. As a Northerner he backs the GOP into this Birtherism lest they commit treason against the Confederacy.
The rules of pro wrestling are that the loser gets to run rampant for a few minutes but then gets stopped. The Bush forces, the team in Miami, are seeing what Trump's got and then will get him outside the ring and hit him with a chair. We haven't had such a Hitler wannabe since Pat Buchanan, who the Bushes don't like.
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