In Victor Davis Hanson’s book, “The Dying Citizen”, he states “Citizenship, after all, is not an entitlement; it requires work. Yet too many citizens of republics, ancient and modern, come to believe that they deserve rights without assuming responsibilities – and they don’t worry how or why or from whom they inherited their privileges.”
Citizenship was separated from subjectship by our Founders, none of whom had birthright citizenship. It was upon the signing of the Declaration of Independence that the idea of citizenship became a defining principle worth dying for.
In Article 1, Section 8, our US Constitution gives the right to Congress to decide who can become citizens of the United States.
Our country, different from most any other, is a nation that began with immigrants. We often hear this as a defense to open-borders from the left. However, they are leaving out a vital and crucial fact. It began as a nation of immigrants who collectively agreed to live under certain laws and values for the continuation of our American values.
Foundational to our American values is that all men are created equal. In 1857, the Supreme Court overstepped their jurisdiction and in the Dred Scott decision, ruled unjustly that slaves could not be citizens. All seven Democrat members of the Supreme Court agreed that slaves were property, and therefore could not be citizens. The two dissenting voices were a member of the Whig party and a Republican.
As a response, in 1868, the Republican party wrote and passed the 14th Amendment, which countered the Dred Scott decision and declared the following:
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.
Once the 14th Amendment passed, it was understood that all those born on American soil would be citizens, otherwise known as “birth right citizenship”.
For decades, families have been growing, bearing children who were automatically granted the privilege of American citizenship.
Under our noses, perhaps by our own ignorance, the 14th Amendment and the common understanding of it, has put our country in a dangerous situation.
President Trump, as part of his set of Executive Orders, has asked the Supreme Court to revisit the intention of the 14th Amendment. The phrase that seems to be misunderstood the most, is “subject to the jurisdiction thereof”.
What is the jurisdiction of the United States and where does it stop? If a family, whose parents are United States citizens, travels to Italy and has a child abroad, does that child automatically get Italian citizenship? No, they are not living under the jurisdiction of Italy just because they are residing in the country, they continue to be under the jurisdiction of the United States. Not to mention, Italy does not offer citizenship to a foreign family who gives birth in their country.
If a foreign diplomat and their family is visiting the United States and gives birth on our soil, does their child automatically receive citizenship? No, they are under the jurisdiction of their country, and therefore do not receive citizenship.
As of today, there are 32 countries who also offer birthright citizenship to anyone born on their soil. Most countries offer citizenship based on the citizenship status of the child’s parents. We are not one of those.
The Supreme Court is currently discussing President Trump’s claim that the 14th Amendment does not provide birthright citizenship to illegal immigrants and according to him, should be clarified by defining who is under the United States’ jurisdiction.
In 1898, the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, that two parents who were permanent residents of our country, though citizens of another country, in this case, China, their son obtained citizenship upon birth.
The judges who ruled in favor of providing citizenship, looked to British Common Law, the same Law that our Founders separated from, in order to defend allegiance to a King or country. The judges ruled that allegiance was not a choice, but a privilege given at birth.
The two judges who provided the dissenting argument used the phrase “and not subject to any foreign power” to argue that parents who are not citizens of the United States are subject to the countries they permanently reside in, and therefore are under their jurisdiction. These judges recognized that a child born in the United States would be under the same jurisdiction of the country their parents are citizens of, not the country they were present in when the mother gave birth.
If a resident has broken the law and illegally entered our country, are they under the jurisdiction of the United States? Currently, our state is making decisions to ensure non-citizens cannot reap the benefits of American citizens who put themselves under the jurisdiction of the Constitution. Looking back to Hanson’s definition of a citizen, we have a severe problem with people who have “come to believe that they deserve rights without assuming responsibilities – and they don’t worry how or why or from whom they inherited their privileges.”
We have an entitlement problem across the country, not just from illegal immigrants. Being an American citizen means nothing anymore, because we’ve given the title away so freely, without any expectation of responsibility. We ask those who come to this country legally to swear by oath that they will uphold American values. But those who use our system against us, from people walking across our border to wealthy Chinese citizens who intentionally come here to give birth, an industry referred to as “birth tourism”, we are devaluing what makes our country stand apart from all the others.
SCOTUS has a decision to make, will they protect American values and end birthright citizenship or will they rule in favor of what so many in our world desire, to strip our country of the treasure of being an American citizen?
In Tennessee, our legislature took steps to deter illegal immigrants from setting up roots here and using the current understanding of the 14th Amendment to their benefit.
Here are a few of those bills that we will see become law in Tennessee:
HB1710/SB1915, carried by Representative Powers and Senator Jackson, will require all state and local governments and organizations, including health departments, to check the citizenship status of adult applicants
HB0749/SB1046, carried by Representative Reeves and Senate Majority Leader Johnson, will prohibit all driver’s licenses that are assigned to out of state non-citizen drivers from being valid in Tennessee
HB1705/SB1922, carried by Representative Rudd and Senator Briggs, will require all state and local employers to use the e-verify system to check employment status of all applicants
HB1706/SB1587, carried by Representative Zachary and Senate Majority Leader Johnson, will prohibit all non-citizens from receiving a CDL driver’s license
HB1707/SB1952, carried by Representative Scarbrough and Senator Rose, will require all government officers to comply with immigration policies, including the ban of sanctuary cities in Tennessee
HB1704/SB1779, carried by House Majority Leader Lamberth and Senate Majority Leader Johnson, which will give a Class A misdemeanor to any adult who has received a final order for deportation and, if after 90 days, remains in the state
Immigration: From SCOTUS to Tennessee’s 114th General Assembly
In Victor Davis Hanson’s book, “The Dying Citizen”, he states “Citizenship, after all, is not an entitlement; it requires work. Yet too many citizens of republics, ancient and modern, come to believe that they deserve rights without assuming responsibilities – and they don’t worry how or why or from whom they inherited their privileges.”
Citizenship was separated from subjectship by our Founders, none of whom had birthright citizenship. It was upon the signing of the Declaration of Independence that the idea of citizenship became a defining principle worth dying for.
In Article 1, Section 8, our US Constitution gives the right to Congress to decide who can become citizens of the United States.
Our country, different from most any other, is a nation that began with immigrants. We often hear this as a defense to open-borders from the left. However, they are leaving out a vital and crucial fact. It began as a nation of immigrants who collectively agreed to live under certain laws and values for the continuation of our American values.
Foundational to our American values is that all men are created equal. In 1857, the Supreme Court overstepped their jurisdiction and in the Dred Scott decision, ruled unjustly that slaves could not be citizens. All seven Democrat members of the Supreme Court agreed that slaves were property, and therefore could not be citizens. The two dissenting voices were a member of the Whig party and a Republican.
As a response, in 1868, the Republican party wrote and passed the 14th Amendment, which countered the Dred Scott decision and declared the following:
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.
Once the 14th Amendment passed, it was understood that all those born on American soil would be citizens, otherwise known as “birth right citizenship”.
For decades, families have been growing, bearing children who were automatically granted the privilege of American citizenship.
Under our noses, perhaps by our own ignorance, the 14th Amendment and the common understanding of it, has put our country in a dangerous situation.
President Trump, as part of his set of Executive Orders, has asked the Supreme Court to revisit the intention of the 14th Amendment. The phrase that seems to be misunderstood the most, is “subject to the jurisdiction thereof”.
What is the jurisdiction of the United States and where does it stop? If a family, whose parents are United States citizens, travels to Italy and has a child abroad, does that child automatically get Italian citizenship? No, they are not living under the jurisdiction of Italy just because they are residing in the country, they continue to be under the jurisdiction of the United States. Not to mention, Italy does not offer citizenship to a foreign family who gives birth in their country.
If a foreign diplomat and their family is visiting the United States and gives birth on our soil, does their child automatically receive citizenship? No, they are under the jurisdiction of their country, and therefore do not receive citizenship.
As of today, there are 32 countries who also offer birthright citizenship to anyone born on their soil. Most countries offer citizenship based on the citizenship status of the child’s parents. We are not one of those.
The Supreme Court is currently discussing President Trump’s claim that the 14th Amendment does not provide birthright citizenship to illegal immigrants and according to him, should be clarified by defining who is under the United States’ jurisdiction.
In 1898, the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, that two parents who were permanent residents of our country, though citizens of another country, in this case, China, their son obtained citizenship upon birth.
The judges who ruled in favor of providing citizenship, looked to British Common Law, the same Law that our Founders separated from, in order to defend allegiance to a King or country. The judges ruled that allegiance was not a choice, but a privilege given at birth.
The two judges who provided the dissenting argument used the phrase “and not subject to any foreign power” to argue that parents who are not citizens of the United States are subject to the countries they permanently reside in, and therefore are under their jurisdiction. These judges recognized that a child born in the United States would be under the same jurisdiction of the country their parents are citizens of, not the country they were present in when the mother gave birth.
If a resident has broken the law and illegally entered our country, are they under the jurisdiction of the United States? Currently, our state is making decisions to ensure non-citizens cannot reap the benefits of American citizens who put themselves under the jurisdiction of the Constitution. Looking back to Hanson’s definition of a citizen, we have a severe problem with people who have “come to believe that they deserve rights without assuming responsibilities – and they don’t worry how or why or from whom they inherited their privileges.”
We have an entitlement problem across the country, not just from illegal immigrants. Being an American citizen means nothing anymore, because we’ve given the title away so freely, without any expectation of responsibility. We ask those who come to this country legally to swear by oath that they will uphold American values. But those who use our system against us, from people walking across our border to wealthy Chinese citizens who intentionally come here to give birth, an industry referred to as “birth tourism”, we are devaluing what makes our country stand apart from all the others.
SCOTUS has a decision to make, will they protect American values and end birthright citizenship or will they rule in favor of what so many in our world desire, to strip our country of the treasure of being an American citizen?
In Tennessee, our legislature took steps to deter illegal immigrants from setting up roots here and using the current understanding of the 14th Amendment to their benefit.
Here are a few of those bills that we will see become law in Tennessee:
HB1710/SB1915, carried by Representative Powers and Senator Jackson, will require all state and local governments and organizations, including health departments, to check the citizenship status of adult applicants
HB0749/SB1046, carried by Representative Reeves and Senate Majority Leader Johnson, will prohibit all driver’s licenses that are assigned to out of state non-citizen drivers from being valid in Tennessee
HB1705/SB1922, carried by Representative Rudd and Senator Briggs, will require all state and local employers to use the e-verify system to check employment status of all applicants
HB1706/SB1587, carried by Representative Zachary and Senate Majority Leader Johnson, will prohibit all non-citizens from receiving a CDL driver’s license
HB1707/SB1952, carried by Representative Scarbrough and Senator Rose, will require all government officers to comply with immigration policies, including the ban of sanctuary cities in Tennessee
HB1704/SB1779, carried by House Majority Leader Lamberth and Senate Majority Leader Johnson, which will give a Class A misdemeanor to any adult who has received a final order for deportation and, if after 90 days, remains in the state
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Anne Lowery
Anne Lowery