The birthright citizenship discussion at VFR

Here, in chronological order, are the recent blog entries on the proper meaning of the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The discussion could be described as dialectical. By starting with one point of view, then seeing its inadequacies and finding a better point of view, and then a better, we end up with a clearer understanding of the problem than if we had simply started out with an assured and monolithic position that fails to consider its own possible weaknesses.

Why the Constitution does not say that children of illegal aliens are citizens
(my initial, intuitive approach to the meaning of the Citizenship Clause);

The truth about Birthright Citizenship
(excerpts from Meese-Eastman amicus curiae brief denying birthrate citizenship for children of non-citizens);

The traditional case against including children of aliens in the Citizenship Clause
(discussing whether the language of the Citizenship Clause is determinative, or ambiguous requiring clarification from the legislative history);

Have I misread the legislative record on the Citizenship Clause?
(showing that, despite one ambiguous statement in the legislative history, the legislative history as a whole is determinative in rejecting birthright citizenship for children of legal and illegal aliens).

Posted by Lawrence Auster at August 02, 2007 05:26 PM | Send