MONITOR EXECUTIVE ORDERS

“So John Sauer got a lot of pushback pretty quickly, including from some of the key conservative justices who are often in the majority, most notably from Chief Justice Roberts. You obviously put a lot of weight on subject to the jurisdiction thereof. But the examples you give to support that strike me as very quirky.”

“Yes, it was a historic day. The first sitting president to be in the Supreme Court courtroom for an oral argument and to be sitting there as the justices were debating birthright citizenship. A hush came over the courtroom as the president was escorted to his seat. Instead of being close to the justices in the special seats reserved for their families and visiting dignitaries, he was seated in the front row for the public.”

“The citizenship clause was adopted just after the Civil War to grant citizenship to the newly freed slaves and their children. In 1884, this court recognized that subject to the jurisdiction means owing direct and immediate allegiance. The clause thus does not extend citizenship to the children of temporary visa holders or illegal aliens.”

“The court says at the very beginning of its opinion, here are the accepted facts. These are lawfully domiciled here. When it states the question presented, it talks about domicile. When it recites the legal principle at page 693, it says domicile three times. We've decided that Chinese immigrants, with a permanent domicile in residence here, fall within the rule of birthright citizenship.”

“Basically saying the 14th Amendment guarantees that anyone born, with very few exceptions on American soil, is an American citizen. And not just in the 14th Amendment, but in subsequent court rulings, in actions by past presidents, this has been the common subtle law understanding.”