Libs Monday: Constitution Needs Change. Libs Today: 14th Amendment's Written in Stone!
With news that more than one migrant caravan is heading toward the U.S. border with Mexico in the days leading up to the midterm elections, President Donald Trump has made several announcements regarding illegal aliens.
One in particular has done what some say is the “impossible.”
And that “impossible” task was getting leftists to actually read the Constitution.
So-called Birthright Citizenship, which costs our Country billions of dollars and is very unfair to our citizens, will be ended one way or the other. It is not covered by the 14th Amendment because of the words “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” Many legal scholars agree…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2018
That does not necessarily equate to good news, however, given the political reality of the American left.
Reading the Constitution is not enough. There needs to be an understanding of it, as well.
And liberals continue to show they don’t understand the nation’s founding document, even when they read it. It began decades ago with the notion that the Constitution was a “living document.” (Georgetown Law Professor Lawrence Solum published a blog post on the history of the idea last year that’s worth the read.)
For the left, in practice, that meant the Constitution could be changed on a whim, as their ideology demanded. What the document actually said and what the authors intended were irrelevant.
Now that Trump has proposed an executive order ending birthright citizenship, though, the 14th Amendment, which states in part that “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States …” is forever immutable.
And conservatives are noting the liberals’ sudden change of heart.
Pretty ironic watching Democrats panic over the 14th amendment and defend it as written in stone all the while trying to abolish the 2nd amendment….. you can’t pick and choose either we have a Constitution or we don’t…. it’s not subject to Amy political parties whims.
— Terry Bross (@TBrossagent) October 30, 2018
The Left: “The Constitution is a living document! The Second Amendment is obsolete!”
Also the Left: “The 14th Amendment is written in stone!”
— Jimmy Smith (@JimmySmith300) October 31, 2018
So, the Constitution and the 14th Amendment, specifically, is here for eternity. And it’s all because of Trump’s announcement.
Trump just trolled everyone on the left including Acosta to agree that the constitution should be interpreted as written. Quite amazing since the left up until yesterday said it was a living document
— nolesfan (@mikeruffin8) October 31, 2018
The Left: “The Constitution is a living document! The Second Amendment is obsolete!”
Also the Left: “The 14th Amendment is written in stone!Can’t you read!?”
— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) October 31, 2018
So what does the 14th Amendment say in full? The Facebook post below reveals it:
The left wrongly asserts that the 14th Amendment not only provides for birthright citizenship for illegal aliens, but that the Supreme Court has affirmed this. Neither is true, but the assertions are used to back liberals’ new claim that the 14th Amendment is “written in stone.”
There has never been an official court decision to determine the stupidity of allowing birthright citizenship. That constitutional amendment was specifically aimed at former slaves. The illegals glommed onto a footnote in another SCOTUS case. Lawbreakers to the end!!!
— @Curt Golden (@curtandnan) October 30, 2018
Meanwhile, many on the right continue to consistently assert that the Constitution means what it says and was intended to say. In the case of the 14th Amendment, it was written to protect the rights of newly freed slaves in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War. One key to understanding it does not apply to birthright citizenship for illegal aliens, i.e. foreign nationals, is found in the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”
.@kayleighmcenany on the 14th Amendment: “It doesn’t say just if you are born here in the 14th Amendment, it says ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof.’” @FoxFriendsFirst pic.twitter.com/oqfrua2omL
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 31, 2018
What do those who believe the 14th Amendment gives “birthright citizenship” think, “under the jurisdiction of the United States” means?
Children born to illegal parents are under the jurisdiction of their parent’s country, not the United States.
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) October 31, 2018
Another key is found in an actual Supreme Court case, being wrongly asserted by the left to apply to anchor babies of illegal aliens. The case addressed birthright citizenship of legal aliens, not illegal aliens. There is a big difference between those who are legally here and those who are not.
CORRECT.
In Wong Kim Ark (1898) the Court ruled that a child born in the U.S. of legal aliens was entitled to “birthright citizenship” under the 14th Amendment. LEGAL aliens is the key word here.
Not children of illegal foreign citizens.https://t.co/g6y5m60c6L
— Mike Tokes (@MikeTokes) October 31, 2018
But none of that matters to the left, who are notorious for their raging hypocrisy when it comes to pushing their agenda. All else be hanged.
Democrats can find support for anchor babies in the 14th Amendment – which was needed to protect newly freed slaves from having their rights stripped by Democrats – and also, magically, they can find gun restrictions in the Second Amendment, and hate speech laws in the First.
— Stefan Molyneux (@StefanMolyneux) October 31, 2018
If the matter is reviewed by the Supreme Court, justices who are constitutionalists will consider what is written and what the intent was, as usual. The result of the case can’t be predicted, of course, but it’s a good chance the court would affirm that birthright citizenship for illegal aliens is not guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.
The AUTHOR of the 14th Amendment explains in no uncertain terms that his Amendment EXCLUDES the children of foreigners. https://t.co/3h4Zslw3F8
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) October 31, 2018
— DamianMAGA (@dtill96) October 31, 2018
Activist justices, however, particularly those who lean left, might then go with the prior “living document” interpretation and assert that regardless of its original intent, the Constitution will have “evolved” to include the children of illegal aliens.
Progressives will never stop their fight. And that’s why conservatives can’t stop either.
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