Tuesday, January 28, 2025

birthright citizenship

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.

Thus sayeth the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. DT is now trying to undercut it. His tool is the phrase "subject to the jurisdiction thereof," but he misunderstands it. "Subject to the jurisdiction thereof" means that the laws of the US apply to them. Immigrants, whatever their legal status, are subject to the legal jurisdiction of the US. They're expected to obey the laws. They pay taxes. That's regardless if they're citizens or not.

Who is not subject to the jurisdiction thereof? The children born here of three categories of people are not subject to the jurisdiction.

1. Foreign diplomats accredited to the US. Diplomats do not vote or pay income tax, and by long-standing tradition are immune from law enforcement. Every once in a while this makes news when some diplomat accumulates a vast number of unpaid parking tickets in New York. They don't have to pay.

2. Soldiers in invading armies. We haven't had that here since 1815, but obviously they would be neither legally nor practically subject to US law enforcement.

3. A category of people, referred to in the apportionment clause of this Amendment and in Article 1 as not counting for that purpose, and called "Indians not taxed." Note that "Indians not taxed" is only a subcategory of "Indians." DT claims that since Indians, many of them anyway, claim primary allegiance to their tribe, they're not primarily subject to the jurisdiction of the US. But they are still subject to its jurisdiction: they're expected to abide by its laws. "Indians not taxed" was the term of law for what were demotically known as "wild Indians": those who lived uninterrupted aboriginal lives and had never come under the purview of the government. No tax collectors or census takers ventured into their territory; they were not taxed and were not counted for congressional apportionment. But there are no longer any Indians not taxed. Whatever their personal lifestyles, they're all subject to taxation, have the law enforced on them, and are citizens entitled to vote.

Therefore diplomats are the only category we have to allow for today.

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