“Birthright”

 Carmel Pine Cone, sent on Jan. 24, 2025 – Not published

There are two precepts of law that fully justify President Trump’s executive order ending the misnamed “birthright” grant of US citizenship.  The first is an important clarification of the 14th Amendment, which states that “All persons born……in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”  Consider that the very act of illegally entering this country is an immediate refutation by said person of the jurisdiction of the nation’s laws.  In this fact, President Trump’s executive order follows the Constitution precisely.

The second precept follows what is known as common law.  Common laws are not codified, but they assuredly follow common sense and justice, and we live by them daily.  In this vein, it is absolutely accepted that a criminal, or anyone associated with that criminal, has no right to benefit from a crime.  In other words, if a person robs a bank, even if the purpose is to aid his own family, neither that person nor a family member has the right to retain the stolen money. Therefore, a child born on U.S. soil from a mother who entered this country illegally has only the mother’s criminality to blame if deported with her.

Richard Hellam, Seaside