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The Supreme Court has issued a ruling on Trump v. Barbara (birthright citizenship). 6-3 striking down Trump's executive order. You can find the ruling here: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25-365_4hdj.pdf
I've only had enough time to skim the ruling thus far. Jackson wrote a concurrence which I won't bother to read because she's the second most retarded member of the court (Sotomayor still reigns supreme in retardation). Kavanaugh partially concurred on the basis that this needed to be done by act of congress as opposed to executive order, but otherwise generally agreed with the Trump admin's interpretation of the 14th amendment. Thomas and Gorsuch outright dissented. Alito had his own separate dissent. Thomas's opinion includes several historical examples of people born on US soil to people not lawfully in the US who were denied citizenship, and I was not aware of these examples previously, making his the most interesting. Well that and the fact that it agrees with my 100% objectively correct and indisputable view of the matter of course.
This is roughly how most court-watchers expected this decision to turn out, but it still doesn't change the immense disappointment I feel over this news. Someone here earlier this week or last week said that this decision will be our generation's Dred Scott regardless of how it is decided, and that it will tear the union apart in similar fashion. Demographic changes in the West generally are leading to ever increasing tension and dysfunction, and I fear this decision will ensure that a breaking point is reached soooner, rather than later.
This being anything other than 9-0 is an ominous level of partisan hackery. Like it or not, the Constitution is unambiguous with respect to birthright citizenship.
Expect future decades of the big issues of our time being decided by judges because legislatures have abandoned their responsibilities, and declining civic participation and partisanship frustrates any attempts to amend constitutions.
No, it really isn't: "Every person born within the limits of the United States, and subject to their jurisdiction, is by virtue of natural law and national law a citizen of the United States. This will not, of course, include persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers accredited to the Government of the United States, but will include every other class of persons." - Jacob Howard, drafter of the 14th Amendment
Children of foreigners, aliens, and diplomats were not intended to be covered by the 14th by the very author of the amendment.
Is that how you parse that quote? It seems to me he is referring exclusively to the children of foreign diplomats. Not three different categories of people (i.e., foreigners AND aliens AND those who belong to families of ambassadors...).
Howard in other instances seemed to very clearly anticipate that the 14th would apply to the children of people from other countries who were not (yet) American citizens. In any case, the amendment as written very obviously does not make the distinction you are purporting Howard to have made.
"This will not include persons born in the United States who are foreigners."
"This will not include persons born in the United States who are aliens."
"This will not include persons born in the United States who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers accredited to the Government of the United States."
I'm struggling to find any other way to parse it.
Because it's not a list of three categories. It's a description of one category, of which all three are needed to qualify. I.e. that citizenship is not withheld from aliens AND foreigners AND children of foreign diplomats, but rather children of foreign diplomats who are also aliens and foreigners. (Otherwise, for example, someone who had say, a foreign diplomat father and an American mother, born in America, would not receive birthright citizenship.)
I think semantically it is meant to be understand this way for a number of reasons: the alternative explanation is not consistent with Howard's purposes otherwise OR the final wording of the amendment, it doesn't make sense to describe newborn children being born as foreigners or aliens within the context of the rest of the amendment, and if it was a list it would certainly be more clear if there were ors/ands in between the items.
If I were to say to say, for example, to a car dealer that I only liked cars that were "red, fast, fuel-efficient"; I would expect him to understand that I want a car that is all three, rather than one car of each.
OK, but switch your hypothetical back to the negation that we're dealing with and it comes out my way.
If I want to see every car on the lot, but that this obviously doesn't apply to cars that are red, fast, fuel efficient, then don't bring me the red F150.
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Other parse: this will not include person born in the United state who are foreigners AND aliens AND belong to (the families of ambassdors OR foreign ministers). So to be exempt you'd have to be a foreigner and an alien and be born to an ambassador or minister accredited to the USA.
That's an incredibly motivated reading which would not be used in the vast majority of other contexts. If someone wants a vegetable soup but asks you to exclude red, orange, purple vegetables, you're not going to toss in some carrots and tell them that they weren't crazy stripey polka-dotted carrots with red and purple on them. It's clear what they meant.
The text does not use the word AND, it's just a list of three things and then says "all other classes are included", meaning that these three classes are not. There are not logical operators being applied here. I suppose an OR could be implied, but I don't think mathematical logic was developed or widespread enough for them to speak that way (since there's often ambiguity between OR and XOR). Just listing the three traits which are excluded, and then saying "all other classes are included" is pretty clear.
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Your construction makes no sense. First, the punctuation would be wrong. Second, describing diplomats as foreigners and aliens would be surplusage on top of surplusage.
Diplomats could be married to US citizens, or possibly be a US citizen themselves. Apparently there's been quite a few Canadian diplomats who are also American. There's also one of an American ambassador to France who had French citizenship through their marriage.
If the argument that using foreigners and aliens is to clarify that children borne of diplomats who happen to be U.S. citizens as well, then that moves me not at all.
Well there's also the big issue that if it's surplus then there is no reason whatsoever to include the final bit of foreign diplomats being included.
If I wanted to ban all fruits, I would not say "this ban includes fruits, and also apples". Apples is included under fruits. It doesn't make any sense to include them separately. If I wanted to make it clear that fruits contains something contentious, I would say "this ban includes traditional fruits and tomatoes" to clarify that tomatoes are included as a fruit here.
If diplomats would be included under the "aliens" and "foreigners", then why mention them? Presumably there's either
A distinction between them and they kept it in mind that some diplomat children might not be alien/foreign
Considering diplomats as aliens or foreigners is disputed for some reason,
It's meant to be specifically fitting all three categories.
We are meant to consider that US citizen who happens to be a diplomat to us of some kind actually make non citizen child.
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Not quite, it's possible to be a foreigner but not an alien, e.g. a US citizen who also has German citizenship. It's also possible to be an alien but not a foreigner, e.g. a native American back before they were all given citizenship; and it's definitely possible to be an ambassador/foreign minister without being either a foreigner or an alien and you use this language specifically to ensure that it doesn't apply to US ambassadors or foreign ministers who are also US citizens for instance in their own right separately.
The UK actually does something like this. If you're just a random migrant spending time on almost any "residnence" visa category in the UK after 10 years you'll be eligible for ILR (permanent residence basically). However if you're specifically in the UK as an exercise of being part of a foreign nation's retinue to it's mission in the UK there are additional issues and you can't just apply for ILR or naturalisation until you are no longer not subject to immigration control (basically not until your formal status as a diplomat has ended).
It would make perfect sense for children of ambassadors and foreign ministers while they are serving in their capacity as an ambassador/foreign minister to be carved out of US citizenship as a way to not create direct US ties and jurisdiction (like e.g. family law jurisdiction) over a family member of a serving diplomat of the other country, which the other country almost certainly would not be happy about.
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