Memories of the 28th Century

The citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment has not been an issue for most of the time it has been in force. Before the Fourteenth was ratified, July 9, 1868, each state had its own definition of citizen. Those laws included whoever the state had wanted to be a citizen. In many states, Blacks, Indians, and women were excluded, and in some states there was a requirement that an adult male paid taxes to become a citizen.

When it was written, the intention was that Black people, whether formerly slaves or free persons would be citizens. The Fourteenth had effects that varied widely, since it increased the numbers of citizens in every state. But the immigration laws were different. Basically, anyone could immigrate to the U.S.A. from any other country, with exceptions for people who probably would become public charges due to low intelligence or poor health. Criminals were also banned, but that wasn't followed closely, and it was usually difficult of impossible to check the bona fides of an immigrant.

The widespread restrictions on immigration were not introduced until the law passed in 1923, which placed quotas on people from various places. Until then, Immigrants were given a visual inspection for disease and their names, trades, place of origin were collected, and they had to have some small amount of money, and that was if they entered at Ellis Island in New York Harbor. There were means of entry that were even easier (my paternal grandparents came in through Canada, and apparently Canada also had no restrictions. Becoming a citizen was fairly easy, and there were associations designed to help people with that. there was a Polish-American Citizen Club in the town where i grew up, and such clubs were common around the country. It was generally assumed that immigrants would become citizens after a few years, and they usually did, so the matter of citizenship of their children was not an issue at that time.

The people who wrote the Fourteenth expected that there would be universal citizenship, so any children of immigrants would be born to citizens. The matter of children being born in the U.S.A. to non-citizens didn't become much of an issue until after 1923, and even then there were not many people travelling to the U.S.A. who did not become citizens. For Trump to want to make exclusions from the citizenship Claus seems almost silly. Thump should remember that his ancestors of a few generations ago took advantage of it, but they probably became citizens not long after the immigrated here.

It might be a good idea to rewrite the Citizenship Clause so it might reflect the present reality, but if that were to be done, it would be wise to think about making it less likely to become obsolete, if conditions changed again. How would it go? “All persons born to legal residents...” Or maybe “All persons born to citizens...” I don't know what the best answer would be, but I might agree to requiring that the mother be residing in the U.S.A. legally, and that would include a woman who was in the process of applying for refugee status or asylum status. The law the is relevant to applying for asylum is an international treaty that requires that the person apply in the first country that person enters that is signatory to the treaty. But there is no simple way to handle this matter that would not harm some people. There are related qyestions that this raises, and I don't know if the people in Washington can handle the matter.



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.