GOP State Reps Seek to Redefine Birthright Citizenship

The representative for Texas’ 6th District, along with more than a dozen other Republican state legislators across the country, plans to introduce a bill in the next session calling for his state to discontinue automatic citizenship for U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants. The measure is, of course, a direct violation of the 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to anyone born in the United States.

Texas state Rep. Leo Berman hopes his state will be sued. The next step in his desired outcome is a legal victory. “That lawsuit will go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where some judge is going to read the background and say there are no Supreme Court rulings affirming the 14th Amendment’s current interpretation,” he said.

Most legal scholars say it can’t be done, especially not at the state level. The 14th Amendment was established in 1868 to overrule the Dred Scott decision that prevented children of slaves from becoming citizens. The language of the amendment specifically refers to birthright citizenship: “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.”  But some state lawmakers argue the 14th Amendment has been misinterpreted to include the children of illegal immigrants, who they say should be citizens of their parents’ native countries instead of the United States.

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