Please remember that Native Americans who HAVE ALWAYS BEEN BORN HERE were not allowed to be called or claim citizenship until 1927. This movement by 2025 Heritage Foundation is to totally WHITE American!! It has NOTHING to do with vacation births or any of that 💩. It is in fact and action the continued effort to TOTALLY WHITE AMERICA!
The Biden administration should have done this. Democrats didn't have enough backbone to get it done. Call them progressive, socialist, whatever b.s. adjective they can dream up but the new generation of candidates running recognize the peril our democracy is in. We must vote them in.
I totally agree -call them what you want but they are young and willing to fight and get stuff done -unlike most corporate democrats that have been in office for decades and do nothing -
Many if not all presidents don’t do everything we’d like. Compromise is the way working with a democracy plays out. But, with the wrecking ball this administration is wielding we can also see where real change is necessary and it will take all of us attending to our representatives to make it happen. We must be more active participants. Ignore the dollars attached to the candidates at our peril!! Each dollar represents something owed. Corporations have no limits now on what they give so we need to track those and stop using their products. It seems daunting and it is but our young people are fit and ready to stand up. Get behind them.
Why will extending the Court solve anything? The same divisions that exist now could also exist in a larger Court. Numbers don’t solve anything. Beliefs do. Is this country only for “white” folks or can other races belong here too? That’s really the issue. The number of justices don’t solve that issue/ what they believe is what counts!
Unfortunately, there have always been about 20%-30% of the population that wants authoritarianism in the service of the White race. Those beliefs have been with us since the founding of the nation. Those beliefs most certainly do not belong on the Supreme Court.
You are right, though; numbers alone will not fix the problem. The court must be expanded, yes, but it must also be reformed. There have to be term limits and ethics laws, and that’s just for starters. This nation will not survive long with a blatantly undemocratic Court.
Hopefully a democratic president would expand the court and nominate judges that actually have a record of supporting democracy, our constitution , rule of law , and equal justice for all people of all races —unlike the clowns on the court now -
Unless the makeup of the court changes our democracy is dead -and probably a return to slavery-I sure wouldn’t put it past them-
A country this large needs to have a larger SCOTUS and with term limits. Another idea, or one as well, is to put a limit on how many justices one president can nominate. This accepts the reality that SCOTUS justices are partisan. The democratic norms we used to depend on are gone in favor of power grabbing.
I believe extending the number of justices but also placing limits on how many presidential appointments each president is allowed to make as well as rotating those time lines for leaving of each justice, this will attempt to ensure a more balanced court system and hopefully prevent any president from seating more then say two justices.
I was struck by Roberts' use of the term "free-born." And what would the alternative look like? A child born to an incarcerated person? Convicted of a crime or can't make bail, or in a detention center? What is *not* free-born?
That question is spot on! Why build giant concentration camps if the intent is to ship out the people incarcerated there? Some have been there a year or longer at this point. We have to fight this monster with every single person who wants our country back! This administration has NO PLAN BEYOND CREATED CHAOS!
Keep in mind that Native American citizenship is a complicated topic. It was many tribes who did not want US citizenship as that could be seen as undermining their goal of forming sovereign nations.
All the more reason they should be at the table. The history of the treatment of the Native population is a whole discussion point and a goal towards erasure by 2025. We don’t have to go overseas to find examples of mass killings to erase a civilization. But trump’s team is using their denial of citizenship at birth to push his denial claims to the Supreme Court and likely why it was a 5-4 vote. It’s really important to know these things!!!
It’s time for Supreme Court expansion. Every 2028 Presidential hopeful and every Senate candidate should be held to the fire on this. This isn't some esoteric political argument anymore. It’s existential.
And get the crooks who take bribes off the court once and for all. We know almost for a fact that Thomas is there at the behest of rich benefactors. ProPublica has the goods on him. The next congress needs to take action using those ProPublica stories as templates.
How about the liars too? Kavanaugh, Gorsuch and Barrett all said roe v wade was settled case law in their confirmation hearings, they out right lied to get the job. They should be impeached.
"He wrote that mass illegal immigration was “a new circumstance” the framers of the 14th Amendment “could not have fully anticipated” in 1868. "
Well, machine guns and AR15 guns and large magazines, etc. are new circumstances the framers of the 2nd amendment could not have anticipated - but somehow that never comes up?
"He wrote that mass illegal immigration was “a new circumstance” the framers of the 14th Amendment “could not have fully anticipated” in 1868. " It must be said loudly and often that "mass illegal immigration" wasn't anticipated by the drafters of the 14th amendment because at that time there were NO Federal immigration laws. The borders were wide open back then.
So, how many newborns exhibit any kind of allegiance to anything? The rethugs have this all mapped out in their headlong rush to Gilead. We need to vote them down resoundingly in November.
As a white American, I do not want to live in a country full of white Americans. Not just for ethical reasons. Those are obvious to anyone with a heart that still works.
Diversity is amazing. Breads from Ethiopia. Clothes from India, the Spanish language, ffs. I could create a 50,000-item listicle.
But here's the real nonsense. If they think they're going to make America white again, they need to spend a few hours in Round Rock, Texas, and other smallish cities in the country during the Fourth of July weekend.
They'll see that their little white ship has sailed. They'll see people of all colors and persuasions milling about these towns. It's a beautiful, wonderful thing to behold. It's to be celebrated. If they think they can end this, they are mistaken. It's ludicrous.
The fact that the little white ship has sailed is the exact problem. They’re terrified of being in the minority and being treated like they treat minorities….
Thank you for your legal and historical analysis of this ruling. Coupled with the expansion of executive power that the SCOTUS also granted to Trump this week, this is very troubling to read.
We have a MAGA trifecta in the SCOTUS, Congress, and White House that will either sink the US for all time, or be expunged this November. I very much hope that Americans who don't believe in the White Christian Nationalist goals for our nation are informed enough as to what is at stake to get out and vote in the mid-terms.
The district courts and the elections leading up to the mid-terms hold out the greatest beacon of hope to me. I believe that I see a pendulum swing that is not merely a slow swing back toward centrist, corporate, business-as-usual, Democratic Party politics, but a strong and accelerating swing to the Democratic Socialist vision of Bernie Sanders.
Thank you so much for your analysis of this vote and the pitfalls that lay ahead. It is so discouraging to see the rejection of people who are of different nationalities. It breaks my heart.
Jay, your summary paragraph is what says it all for me: after they achieve this goal, who then do they turn on to keep the MAG cultists distracted and focused on anything but the state of the nation? No one will be safe from having their citizenship stripped away, for any reason--or perhaps even no reason...other than disagreement with "someone" in power.
As for those scumbags Graham, Cruz and Britt...they are repulsive, racist little minions rushing to insinuate themselves in Trump's regard.
In November we all must vote as though our very citizenship depends on it--because it may!
A few decades ago, while doing research for a paper on the history of our immigration laws, I discovered that the very concept of illegal immigration was invented in the late 19th century to restrict the immigration of non-white people. The history of our immigration laws is the history of institutionalized racism.
As a retired educator, what frightens me the most is the idea of the "poorly educated" that this administration is counting on to remain that way. I do not like the term, I prefer to use the term "clueless" to describe some Americans. We personally know too many, of all ages, that admit & say out loud: "I hate politics." If 90 million chose not to cast their vote, how many have actually changed their mind? This roller coaster ride of being hopeful one day & then scared to death the next is driving this 75 yr. old to think about day drinking! But instead, I'll start writing my 200 reminder to vote postcards: Making good trouble is helpful, so find some & get goin' :) Thanks for all you do to educate us, Jay!
I have always thought that too, and still believe it is correct. But we have just seen 3 of the Supreme Court base their arguments not on the Constitution but on Congressional law, as if it had nothing to do with what this case is about. That is frightening to me, and it is a danger to the integrity of our Constitution. The integrity of our Supreme Court has already been compromised repeatedly by their own rulings and by their behavior. This matter will be brought up again, and we had better start preparing to confront it now by electing people who believe in the underlying principles of the Contsitution as laid out first by our Declaration of Independence, followed by our long history of affirmation of those principle by law and practice- as well as the moral actions of Americans themselves.
Still unclear how a simple law can overturn an amendment. 5 justices, a legislature with a simple majority and prez can overturn an amendment passed by 2/3 of the legislature and 3/4 of the states?
I understand that people believe there are grey areas not codified, I also get that this scotus is not above ignoring established precedent.
If that's all it takes then couldn't dem president, with a simple majority, pass limits on presidential authority with a friendly scotus overturning the prior ruling? Scotus argument is that because it's not codified it's left to interpretation.
The problem is the 14th is codified , it's an amendment. It's not roe, it's not even presidential immunity. It's a law that became an amendment.
Do they just intend to ignore the requirements for actually amending the Constitution? It sounds like some of them don't have a clue what is required to amend it.
Kerry -- unfortunately, it appears that many Project 2025 MAGAts {including Supreme Court (In)justices} DO fully understand how difficult it is to amend the Constitution. Kavanaugh's (sp?) partial dissent (& other dissents) in this case, shamefully, are setting up a pathway to bypass the amendment process & get rid of birthright citizenship with Federal law change(s) only.
Please remember that Native Americans who HAVE ALWAYS BEEN BORN HERE were not allowed to be called or claim citizenship until 1927. This movement by 2025 Heritage Foundation is to totally WHITE American!! It has NOTHING to do with vacation births or any of that 💩. It is in fact and action the continued effort to TOTALLY WHITE AMERICA!
Please remember this when you vote in November.
That’s what happens when you have 5 racists and one Uncle Tom on the court-
Number one priority if we win in 2028 is EXPANDING THE COURT-there is no other option-
The Biden administration should have done this. Democrats didn't have enough backbone to get it done. Call them progressive, socialist, whatever b.s. adjective they can dream up but the new generation of candidates running recognize the peril our democracy is in. We must vote them in.
I totally agree -call them what you want but they are young and willing to fight and get stuff done -unlike most corporate democrats that have been in office for decades and do nothing -
There’s lots of things that Biden administration should’ve done that it didn’t. I’ve posted this article many times.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/19/joe-biden-had-one-job-and-he-failed
Many if not all presidents don’t do everything we’d like. Compromise is the way working with a democracy plays out. But, with the wrecking ball this administration is wielding we can also see where real change is necessary and it will take all of us attending to our representatives to make it happen. We must be more active participants. Ignore the dollars attached to the candidates at our peril!! Each dollar represents something owed. Corporations have no limits now on what they give so we need to track those and stop using their products. It seems daunting and it is but our young people are fit and ready to stand up. Get behind them.
I consider Thomas a racist. He believes with every fiber of his being that he is white.
I think he acknowledges that he's black - and it pisses him off...
Why will extending the Court solve anything? The same divisions that exist now could also exist in a larger Court. Numbers don’t solve anything. Beliefs do. Is this country only for “white” folks or can other races belong here too? That’s really the issue. The number of justices don’t solve that issue/ what they believe is what counts!
Unfortunately, there have always been about 20%-30% of the population that wants authoritarianism in the service of the White race. Those beliefs have been with us since the founding of the nation. Those beliefs most certainly do not belong on the Supreme Court.
You are right, though; numbers alone will not fix the problem. The court must be expanded, yes, but it must also be reformed. There have to be term limits and ethics laws, and that’s just for starters. This nation will not survive long with a blatantly undemocratic Court.
Hopefully a democratic president would expand the court and nominate judges that actually have a record of supporting democracy, our constitution , rule of law , and equal justice for all people of all races —unlike the clowns on the court now -
Unless the makeup of the court changes our democracy is dead -and probably a return to slavery-I sure wouldn’t put it past them-
Unfortunately, I agree.
A country this large needs to have a larger SCOTUS and with term limits. Another idea, or one as well, is to put a limit on how many justices one president can nominate. This accepts the reality that SCOTUS justices are partisan. The democratic norms we used to depend on are gone in favor of power grabbing.
https://www.brennancenter.org/topics/courts/supreme-court-reform
I believe extending the number of justices but also placing limits on how many presidential appointments each president is allowed to make as well as rotating those time lines for leaving of each justice, this will attempt to ensure a more balanced court system and hopefully prevent any president from seating more then say two justices.
I was struck by Roberts' use of the term "free-born." And what would the alternative look like? A child born to an incarcerated person? Convicted of a crime or can't make bail, or in a detention center? What is *not* free-born?
“He added, “The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to ‘every free-born person in this land.’
It was interesting choice of words….and to note,Roberts’ children,as Barrett’s,were born in other “lands” and adopted.
Not a slave! Aka owned by the "master". it sickens me to type it!
That question is spot on! Why build giant concentration camps if the intent is to ship out the people incarcerated there? Some have been there a year or longer at this point. We have to fight this monster with every single person who wants our country back! This administration has NO PLAN BEYOND CREATED CHAOS!
That is what it sounds like. Is he anticipating some of us being enslaved again?
What are all the concentration camps being readied for? Or better question WHO?
Oh, how freaking boring a white America that just sounds horrible
That's exactly what I was thinking..how boring
Keep in mind that Native American citizenship is a complicated topic. It was many tribes who did not want US citizenship as that could be seen as undermining their goal of forming sovereign nations.
All the more reason they should be at the table. The history of the treatment of the Native population is a whole discussion point and a goal towards erasure by 2025. We don’t have to go overseas to find examples of mass killings to erase a civilization. But trump’s team is using their denial of citizenship at birth to push his denial claims to the Supreme Court and likely why it was a 5-4 vote. It’s really important to know these things!!!
Message to Scotus: HANDS OFF our Constitution! You are not gods.
It's an outrage that the ruling was not 9 to 0. At least 33 other
countries also have birthright citizenship. This idea is hardly a novelty.
Exactly
It’s time for Supreme Court expansion. Every 2028 Presidential hopeful and every Senate candidate should be held to the fire on this. This isn't some esoteric political argument anymore. It’s existential.
And get the crooks who take bribes off the court once and for all. We know almost for a fact that Thomas is there at the behest of rich benefactors. ProPublica has the goods on him. The next congress needs to take action using those ProPublica stories as templates.
How about the liars too? Kavanaugh, Gorsuch and Barrett all said roe v wade was settled case law in their confirmation hearings, they out right lied to get the job. They should be impeached.
I'm on board with anything and everything. No “unity” government when this is over.
The Robert's Court and the entire Trump regime are systematically destroying every principle this country was founded upon.
"He wrote that mass illegal immigration was “a new circumstance” the framers of the 14th Amendment “could not have fully anticipated” in 1868. "
Well, machine guns and AR15 guns and large magazines, etc. are new circumstances the framers of the 2nd amendment could not have anticipated - but somehow that never comes up?
Those bemoaning the birthright citizenship decision need to be very careful what they advocate for.
The text of the 2A is SO MUCH MORE AMBIGUOUS than that of the 14th
"He wrote that mass illegal immigration was “a new circumstance” the framers of the 14th Amendment “could not have fully anticipated” in 1868. " It must be said loudly and often that "mass illegal immigration" wasn't anticipated by the drafters of the 14th amendment because at that time there were NO Federal immigration laws. The borders were wide open back then.
So, how many newborns exhibit any kind of allegiance to anything? The rethugs have this all mapped out in their headlong rush to Gilead. We need to vote them down resoundingly in November.
I noticed that! It’s beyond crazy!
As a white American, I do not want to live in a country full of white Americans. Not just for ethical reasons. Those are obvious to anyone with a heart that still works.
Diversity is amazing. Breads from Ethiopia. Clothes from India, the Spanish language, ffs. I could create a 50,000-item listicle.
But here's the real nonsense. If they think they're going to make America white again, they need to spend a few hours in Round Rock, Texas, and other smallish cities in the country during the Fourth of July weekend.
They'll see that their little white ship has sailed. They'll see people of all colors and persuasions milling about these towns. It's a beautiful, wonderful thing to behold. It's to be celebrated. If they think they can end this, they are mistaken. It's ludicrous.
The fact that the little white ship has sailed is the exact problem. They’re terrified of being in the minority and being treated like they treat minorities….
Oh for sure. But it is truly Custer's last stand. Ugly, occasionally terrifying, but it's the end for them.
It's a much richer tapestry we weave when including threads of all strengths and origins.
Thank you for your legal and historical analysis of this ruling. Coupled with the expansion of executive power that the SCOTUS also granted to Trump this week, this is very troubling to read.
We have a MAGA trifecta in the SCOTUS, Congress, and White House that will either sink the US for all time, or be expunged this November. I very much hope that Americans who don't believe in the White Christian Nationalist goals for our nation are informed enough as to what is at stake to get out and vote in the mid-terms.
The district courts and the elections leading up to the mid-terms hold out the greatest beacon of hope to me. I believe that I see a pendulum swing that is not merely a slow swing back toward centrist, corporate, business-as-usual, Democratic Party politics, but a strong and accelerating swing to the Democratic Socialist vision of Bernie Sanders.
Thank you so much for your analysis of this vote and the pitfalls that lay ahead. It is so discouraging to see the rejection of people who are of different nationalities. It breaks my heart.
Jay, your summary paragraph is what says it all for me: after they achieve this goal, who then do they turn on to keep the MAG cultists distracted and focused on anything but the state of the nation? No one will be safe from having their citizenship stripped away, for any reason--or perhaps even no reason...other than disagreement with "someone" in power.
As for those scumbags Graham, Cruz and Britt...they are repulsive, racist little minions rushing to insinuate themselves in Trump's regard.
In November we all must vote as though our very citizenship depends on it--because it may!
Don’t forget Miller, Vought, Theil and the others who are running our country without running for elected office.
It does, not may!
A few decades ago, while doing research for a paper on the history of our immigration laws, I discovered that the very concept of illegal immigration was invented in the late 19th century to restrict the immigration of non-white people. The history of our immigration laws is the history of institutionalized racism.
Even:" white" people weren't excepted. Look at the bias against Italians and Slavs, not to mention Jews, during that time period.
And Catholics!
I know! I had a Polish grandfather whose family immigrated at the turn of the last century who had to change their name to hide their heritage.
As a retired educator, what frightens me the most is the idea of the "poorly educated" that this administration is counting on to remain that way. I do not like the term, I prefer to use the term "clueless" to describe some Americans. We personally know too many, of all ages, that admit & say out loud: "I hate politics." If 90 million chose not to cast their vote, how many have actually changed their mind? This roller coaster ride of being hopeful one day & then scared to death the next is driving this 75 yr. old to think about day drinking! But instead, I'll start writing my 200 reminder to vote postcards: Making good trouble is helpful, so find some & get goin' :) Thanks for all you do to educate us, Jay!
I believe it would actually take a constitutional amendment to overturn the 14th.
Unfortunately the Supreme Court and the Republicans do not seem to believe that
Still true.
I have always thought that too, and still believe it is correct. But we have just seen 3 of the Supreme Court base their arguments not on the Constitution but on Congressional law, as if it had nothing to do with what this case is about. That is frightening to me, and it is a danger to the integrity of our Constitution. The integrity of our Supreme Court has already been compromised repeatedly by their own rulings and by their behavior. This matter will be brought up again, and we had better start preparing to confront it now by electing people who believe in the underlying principles of the Contsitution as laid out first by our Declaration of Independence, followed by our long history of affirmation of those principle by law and practice- as well as the moral actions of Americans themselves.
It STILL requires a new amendment. Please believe that.
Still unclear how a simple law can overturn an amendment. 5 justices, a legislature with a simple majority and prez can overturn an amendment passed by 2/3 of the legislature and 3/4 of the states?
I understand that people believe there are grey areas not codified, I also get that this scotus is not above ignoring established precedent.
If that's all it takes then couldn't dem president, with a simple majority, pass limits on presidential authority with a friendly scotus overturning the prior ruling? Scotus argument is that because it's not codified it's left to interpretation.
The problem is the 14th is codified , it's an amendment. It's not roe, it's not even presidential immunity. It's a law that became an amendment.
And those bemoaning the birthright citizenship decision need to be very careful what they advocate for.
After all, the text of the 2A is SO MUCH MORE AMBIGUOUS than that of the 14th
Do they just intend to ignore the requirements for actually amending the Constitution? It sounds like some of them don't have a clue what is required to amend it.
Kerry -- unfortunately, it appears that many Project 2025 MAGAts {including Supreme Court (In)justices} DO fully understand how difficult it is to amend the Constitution. Kavanaugh's (sp?) partial dissent (& other dissents) in this case, shamefully, are setting up a pathway to bypass the amendment process & get rid of birthright citizenship with Federal law change(s) only.