Congress passed the 14th Amendment on June 13, 1866, more than a year after the Civil War ended. It then required three-fourths of our states to ratify it. This occurred on July 9, 1868, with South Carolina being the 28th state.
Most everyone (except those who prefer white robes and hoods) agreed that the 14th Amendment was the right thing to do to help our nation heal after the bloody Civil War. Doing more than giving former slaves citizenship, its impact is still felt today. The 14th Amendment:
At the time, many Americans thought passing the 14th Amendment concluded the citizenship debate. That might have been the case until 1895 when two legal Chinese immigrants living in San Francisco became parents. Because they were in the United States legally, they believed their son was automatically an American citizen. Not everyone agreed with that thinking. This went through legal challenges until the Supreme Court ruled in 1898 that Wong Kim Ark was an American citizen since he was born on U.S. soil.
Graphic: YouTube Screenshot
Under President Trump’s January 20, 2025, executive order, Wong Kim Ark would still be considered an American citizen since he was born to a woman who was legally in the United States. The key word is “legal.” Until Donald Trump entered the political arena, most Democrats stood with Republicans against illegal aliens waltzing into the United States. Here are three of many examples:
President Bill Clinton in his 1995 State of the Union address:
"… our administration has moved aggressively to secure our borders more by hiring a record number of new border guards, by deporting twice as many criminal aliens as ever before, by cracking down on illegal hiring, by barring welfare benefits to illegal aliens… We are a nation of immigrants. But we are also a nation of laws. It is wrong and ultimately self-defeating for a nation of immigrants to permit the kind of abuse of our immigration laws we have seen in recent years, and we must do more to stop it.”
Illinois Senator Barack Obama at a 2005 News Conference
“We simply cannot allow people to pour into the United States undetected, undocumented, unchecked, and circumventing the line of people who are waiting patiently, diligently, and lawfully to become immigrants in this country.”
New York Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer in 2009:
"… illegal migration is wrong, plain and simple. Persons who enter the U.S. without permission are illegal aliens and should not be treated the same as those who entered legally."
In addition to illegals entering the United States and later having children who are automatically granted citizenship, there is “birth tourism.” Pregnant women come to the United States solely to give birth, so their child is an American citizen. Afterwards, mother and child head back to their host country. This has been going on for years with “birth tourism” very popular in China.
What President Trump seeks to do is stop the parade of illegals coming into our country (by land, sea and air), and having a child that is automatically an American citizen. Whether the illegal mother has been in our country for several years or has just arrived in her ninth month of pregnancy, she is here illegally. Low level judges have blocked Trump’s birthright executive order while it moves through the legal process. Eventually the question of birthright citizenship, or jus soli (right of the soil), will be decided by the Supreme Court.
To protect the value of American citizenship, the justices should issue a landmark ruling that only those born to American citizens or naturalized citizens are automatically citizens of the United States of America.
Robin M. Itzler is a regular contributor to American Thinker. She is the founder and editor of Patriot Neighbors, a free weekly national newsletter. Robin can be reached at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com.