I looked up the 14th amendment this morning in the Encyclopedia Britannica. I wanted to make sure that it wasn’t shortened or abridged. (Encyclopedia Britannica, online). This part is the first part of the 14th amendment, but there are 4 parts. The other three sections do not talk about this subject and are unrelated.
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” (online)
Both of these situations are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States
The word ‘thereof’ refers back to the word ‘jurisdiction’.
The word ‘jurisdiction’, according to dictionary.com means: “The official power to make legal decisions and judgements”.
being born in the United States is a state of being, so you have to meet two requirements to be a citizen:
1. Being born here
2. During the process of your birth your parents also have to be citizens as well or be under some sort of visa while they are here, such as work or vacation or some other visa that has been issued by the government, giving that person temporary permission to be here, but they are still not citizens. This is the ‘subject to jurisdiction’ part of it.
Naturalization is an actual process that someone has gone through to become a citizen, and it is extremely lengthy.
In the executive order that was announced on Whitehouse.org the only situation that is mentioned is being born. Naturalization is not mentioned. If a person has gone through naturalization, then that is a totally different situation than just the state of being of being born.
This is my understanding of what this executive order is saying. I was confused as to what was really said in this executive order, so I read what was actually said on Whitehouse.gov. News reporters and many other people who are talking about it on television, are really putting their own ideas into what the executive order is saying. Other countries have their own laws about being citizens and we have to follow those laws as well when we who are citizens of the United States visit those countries temporarily.
written by Margaret Leora Workman; Warponie Art
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