On Tuesday's broadcast of Newsmax TV's “The Record,” Alan Dershowitz, professor emeritus of law at Harvard University, called comprehensive birthright citizenship “stupid” and “the most compelling in our nation's constitution.” “But it's enshrined in the Constitution, so it would be difficult to change it,” he said. It would be difficult to do so without amending the Constitution, and it would be unconstitutional to try to do so by executive order, as President Donald Trump has done.
Host Greta Van Susteren asked, “Tell me, is this constitutional? Does the president have the authority to do this?”
Mr. Dershowitz replied: “The answer is clear: it's not constitutional. I think the idea that anyone born in America is automatically a citizen is stupid. There's a person who has no ties to this country. His mother went skiing. She came, got pregnant early, had a baby, was sent back to her home country three days later, and never came to the United States again…the only exception being full and complete citizenship. 14th Amendment It says that “every person born” – at the time he was born – “and shall be subject to the jurisdiction thereof” means that if a person has left the country and has no connections, then perhaps Some say that person is not the target. Subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. If that happens, I think legislation will be needed. ”
He added, “So I think the weakest case is that the president just announced, and from a policy perspective, that may be the right thing to do. The second, stronger case is that people born in the United States The weakest case, however, is if Congress passes a law that says you are not subject to jurisdiction if you have never been in the United States. I think it's just announcing that you're not going to follow the letter of the article. That seems very difficult to justify. Obviously, the courts have the final say on this, and that's you. It depends on whether you read the Constitution literally or if you are a functionalist. This rule itself is not a sensible rule, but it is enshrined in the Constitution.”
Dershowitz also said that while there may be people eligible to challenge the executive order, there are questions about whether state attorneys general are eligible to challenge the executive order.
“I don't blame President Trump for trying to remove one of the least persuasive parts of our Constitution, but even if it were in the Constitution, it would be difficult to do it without amending the Constitution,” he said. “And it is certain that there is no law.” ”
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