The next big issue to come before the U.S. Supreme Court could very well be birthright citizenship. President Trump forced the issue shortly after taking office, signing an executive order that ends granting automatic U.S. citizenship to babies born to illegal aliens. That order has now been blocked by at least three judges, after several Democrat-led states and activist groups filed lawsuits.
With the issue likely headed to the Supreme Court, a growing number of legal experts believe Trump's argument has a good chance to succeed with the high court justices. The idea of birthright citizenship is based on the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted to protect Black people and former slaves after the Civil War. It states that, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The key phrase up for debate is "subject to the jurisdiction thereof." That is where experts see wiggle room for restricting automatic citizenship.
"What that (phrase) meant as written at the time was you are subject to the complete jurisdiction of the U.S. and you don't owe your political allegiance to any other country," says Hans Von Spakovsky, legal expert at the Heritage Foundation. "That is certainly not the case for the child of an illegal alien who is born in this country."
"The Supreme Court needs to clarify what (the 14th Amendment) means," he continues. "And according to prior Supreme Court cases, it only goes as far as the children of permanent resident aliens---that's very different from someone who is in the country illegally."
Van Spakovsky believes this case could reach the Supreme Court within a year. And while it's never easy to predict high court decisions..."Right now, I would say there's about a 60-40 chance they will rule in Trump's favor," he tells KTRH.
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