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Unsurprisingly, Welker frames her response with a lie: "The 14th Amendment, though, says that, quote, "All persons born in the United States are citizens."
The actual quote is:
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.
While there has been widespread acquiescence to an interpretation that says a child born to an illegal is a citizen, there is nothing in our law that says that and a great deal that says just the opposite. Read this excellent essay on why birthright citizenship is not a constitutional right.
I don't know if executive action will be sufficient to change our direction because it will be open to reversal by any future president. I think the clearest course of action would be a legal case that results in "y'all can do that if you want to, but there is no constitutional reason to support birthright citizenship.". https://www.heritage.org/immigration/commentary/birthright-citizenship-fundamental-misunderstanding-the-14th-amendment. //
Trump may find that the same obstacle that prevented a solution for Dreamers early in his first term remains. The Democrats don't care about solving the Dreamer issue. But they care very much about keeping it alive so they can demagogue it to fight immigration reform and raise cash from their donor base; see The Democrats Don't Want a DACA Deal, They Want a DACA Issue. Trump has a lot more bargaining potential with this issue than with birthright citizenship. DACA has been ruled illegal by a federal judge. That has stopped any processing of the 80,000+ applications now in the pipeline. The decision has been appealed and will be heard by the Fifth Circuit. //
However, if the Democrats refuse to cooperate, Trump will face an uphill battle in crafting a successor to DACA that can pass the House only on GOP votes. Then he will be confronted with a choice of ignoring the law, like Obama and Biden, or deporting tens of thousands of people to countries where they are foreigners. I can even see the Democrats opting to force this choice. //
The border wall and tougher policing are just one part of the equation. For any kind of long-term border security, we must ensure that cretins like Joe Biden have their ability to make up policy on the fly limited. We must act to withdraw the incentives that attract millions of people to the US. One of those incentives is the knowledge that by having a kid on American soil, the parents can probably avoid deportation. And we must also act with mercy toward those, like the Dreamers, who were left stateless by the actions of their parents. At the same time, we need to make sure that any program to accommodate DACA registrants has a final date attached, and it doesn't become just another way of beating the system. //
NightTwister
an hour ago
While I've stated before that I think Dreamers may need a different solution, they must be the last ones dealt with, and even then, any that have shown a hatred of their new country must be excluded. If they hate it here, they can leave.
Those who have committed crimes here are gone first. Then those who committed crimes in their home country. Change laws and practices to force self-deportation. Then find and deport the remainder. THEN we can worry about the Dreamers. Under no circumstances can they be first.