Well, it hasn’t stopped, but now the courts are stepping in as guardrails against the attempts to eliminate oversight and limits. Yesterday a Federal District Judge appointed by Ronald Reagan, enjoined Trump from eliminating birthright citizenship, the second one to do so. The Hon. John C. Coughenour, hardly a flaming liberal, chastised government lawyers who claimed that Trump’s executive order was constitutional.
Birthright citizenship goes back to Edward III in England. In 1608, the Court of Common Pleas in England ruled that any child born in Scotland after 1603 when James VI of Scotland became James I of England, was English entitled to benefits of being English.
Even before the 14th Amendment, it was recognized in the Supreme Court in Lynch v. Clarke, 1 Sanford Ch. 583 (N.Y.1844), that persons born in the U.S. were natural born citizens (exceptions being slaves, seen only as property and Native Americans seen as impediments to westward expansion). Wong Kim Ark won his case in 1898 in spite of the Chinese Exclusion Acts. U.S born children are U.S. citizens. End of story.
Prayer for the Day
Told we are blessed when we do not follow the wicked,
We look for relief from their words and actions;
Looking for shelter from those who would bring about evil,
We seek your protection promised to the righteous.
Nursing us as a mother with a babe in her arms,
Embrace us, O Holy One, as we struggle to do right.
In the name of the One who aids us on our way,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
I can entertain no doubt, but that by law of the United States, every person born within the dominions and allegiance of the United States, whatever were the situation of his parents, is a natural born citizen.
Judge Lewis Sanford, Lynch v. Clarke (1844)
It has become ever more apparent that, to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals. The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore, whether that be for political or personal gain. Nevertheless, in this courtroom, and under my watch, the rule of law is a bright beacon which I intend to follow
John C. Coughneour, State or Washington, et al, v. Donald J. Trump, et al
Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble,
And the dry grass sinks down in the flame,
So their root will become rotten, and their blossom go up like dust,
For they have rejected the instruction of the Lord of hosts,
And have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 5: 24