© Miami Herald
President Trump once again
questioned the interpretation of the 14th Amendment, the constitutional amendment that established birthright citizenship. The amendment was
written to protect the children of newly freed slaves so that their citizenship, personhood, and freedom could not be challenged.
However, a loose interpretation over the years has allowed any person, including a child of illegal immigrants, to obtain citizenship if they are born in the United States.
While legal questions remain (as the Supreme Court has never
ruled on birthright citizenship with regards to a child of illegal immigrants, which is central to Trump's challenge of its current interpretation), thousands of illegal immigrants have taken advantage of birthright citizenship by either
traveling to the U.S. while pregnant or having a child while illegal. Both are attempts to abuse current law to create an entryway into the country for individuals
who otherwise could not obtain permanent legal status. These new American citizen children can request green cards for their parents once they reach age of 21. Furthermore, these children open the door to
a lifetime of U.S. government benefits for them and their parents, including Medicaid, subsidized housing, in-state tuition, federal scholarships, and food stamps.
The
Center for Immigration Studies and
Pew Research have
estimated that there were between 275,000-297,000 births to illegal immigrant parents in 2014. Additionally, there are approximately
36,000 "birth tourists" who come to the U.S. each year. These births cost upwards of $2.4 billion for U.S. taxpayers.
Comment: We're already seeing some push-back against the 'Oppression Olympics' in some instances, but the meteoric rise of identity politics seems to be climbing still, unabated. It's unclear whether Mac Donald is correct in her assessment, that fighting against it is going to make a difference. It's important to try, yet it seems more likely that the pressure will continue to grow until there an explosive confrontation, and the best advice at that point would be to stay out of the way.
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