Proponents of Birthright Citizenship Can’t Have It Both Ways
As most of my readers know, I am not a huge fan of President Donald Trump. This, of course, doesn’t mean that I prefer Joe Biden or Kamala Harris or any other Democrat to Trump. I, in fact, loathe Biden and Harris much more than the Reason staffers who voted for them in 2020 and 2024.
I have always praised Trump when he gets things right (most recently, see here and here). And on the subject of “birthright citizenship,” Trump gets things right. We don’t have to agree with all of Trump’s immigration policies (I don’t) to agree with him on birthright citizenship. Indeed, the most diehard libertarian advocate of “open borders” could and should still agree wholeheartedly with Trump on birthright citizenship.
One of Trump’s first acts as president was to issue an executive order “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship.” The relevant part reads:
Sec. 2. Policy. (a) It is the policy of the United States that no department or agency of the United States government shall issue documents recognizing United States citizenship, or accept documents issued by State, local, or other governments or authorities purporting to recognize United States citizenship, to persons: (1) when that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth, or (2) when that person’s mother’s presence in the United States was lawful but temporary, and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth.
Unfortunately, a federal judge declared the executive order “blatantly unconstitutional,” and issued a two-week injunction against it.
According to a report by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), there were, in 2024, 400,000 “anchor babies” born in the United States to mothers who were not U.S. citizens. They were either illegal immigrants or foreign nationals in the United States with temporary visas or as tourists. These babies are granted automatic U.S. citizenship by virtue of their being born on U.S. soil because that is how the Fourteenth Amendment has been interpreted. They are therefore entitled to education, healthcare, and welfare.
According to the first article of the Fourteenth Amendment: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction
Article from LewRockwell
LewRockwell.com is a libertarian website that publishes articles, essays, and blog posts advocating for minimal government, free markets, and individual liberty. The site was founded by Lew Rockwell, an American libertarian political commentator, activist, and former congressional staffer. The website often features content that is critical of mainstream politics, state intervention, and foreign policy, among other topics. It is a platform frequently used to disseminate Austrian economics, a school of economic thought that is popular among some libertarians.
