GrumpyRabbit on Nostr: _The Problem with "Birthright Citizenship" | Ryan McMaken_ Senator Jacob Howard ...
_The Problem with "Birthright Citizenship" | Ryan McMaken_
Senator Jacob Howard drafted the citizenship clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Here's his interpretation:
"This [the proposed Amendement] will not, of course, include persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers accredited to the Government of the United States, but will include every other class of persons." (Emphasis added.)
It was ratified based on Senator Howard's assurance that the Citizenship Clause was intended to _EXCLUDE_ "foreigners" and/or "aliens" as being "under the jurisdiction of the United States." FULL STOP.
So then, what is the authoritative defintion of the terms 'foreigner' and 'alien'? Let's take a look at what _Black's Law Dictionary_ has to say on the subject:
"FOREIGNER. In old English law, this term, when used with reference to a particular city, designated any person who was not an inhabitant of that city. According to later usage, it denotes a person who is not a citizen or subject of the state or country of which mention is made, or any one owing allegiance to a foreign state or sovereign." ~ Henry Campbell Black, A Dictionary of Law, First Edition, 1891, p.506. Note that the date of the citation is only 25 years after the ratification of the 14th Amendment, and only 16 years after _Minor v. Happersett_ was decided.
So, a "foreigner" is someone who is "not a citizen or subject of the state or country of which mention is made, or any one owing allegiance to a foreign state or sovereign." That excludes anyone who has foreign citizenship.
Foreigners are legally "under the jurisdiction" of a foreign power. And, according to the author of the 14th Amendment, the phrase "under the jurisdiction of the United States" was intended to exclude anyone who was a "foreigner" (and/or an "alien.")
In 2009, the Berkeley Journal of International Law published a comprehensive historical analysis of the words "foreigner" and "alien", as used in English and American legal writings during the late eighteenth century. Research by Anderson Berry found that the word "foreigner", when used in an international context, has a general meaning and a specific meaning. In the general sense, anyone who was born in a foreign country or is a citizen or subject of a foreign country is a "foreigner". But in the specific sense, "foreigner" is used in contradistinction to "alien".
Quote: "...the overwhelming majority of sources available to the drafters of the judicial bill [of 1789] define an "alien" as an individual who: 1) is foreign-born, and 2) resides in a sovereign's territory other than the one where he was born. A "foreigner" is defined as an individual who: 1) is foreign-born, or more specifically, is a foreign citizen or subject, or 2) is a foreign-born individual residing extraterritorially [outside the sovereign's territory]. (Berry, pp.337-8)" ~ "Whether Foreigner or Alien: A New Look at the Original Language of the Alien Tort Statute," Volume 27, Issue 2
So, "aliens" are persons who relocate permanently to one country, while they are still citizens or subjects of some other country. Presumably, aliens intend to renounce their allegiance to their country of origin and become naturalized citizens of the country of their new permanent residence. In contrast, "foreigners" are temporary visitors who retain citizenship and permanent residence in their home country and intend to someday return to their home country.
Bottom line: To enter a country without official permission, when the laws of that country define such an act as a crime, is an explicit rejection of that country's "jurisdiction."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVFWvL1greA
Senator Jacob Howard drafted the citizenship clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Here's his interpretation:
"This [the proposed Amendement] will not, of course, include persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers accredited to the Government of the United States, but will include every other class of persons." (Emphasis added.)
It was ratified based on Senator Howard's assurance that the Citizenship Clause was intended to _EXCLUDE_ "foreigners" and/or "aliens" as being "under the jurisdiction of the United States." FULL STOP.
So then, what is the authoritative defintion of the terms 'foreigner' and 'alien'? Let's take a look at what _Black's Law Dictionary_ has to say on the subject:
"FOREIGNER. In old English law, this term, when used with reference to a particular city, designated any person who was not an inhabitant of that city. According to later usage, it denotes a person who is not a citizen or subject of the state or country of which mention is made, or any one owing allegiance to a foreign state or sovereign." ~ Henry Campbell Black, A Dictionary of Law, First Edition, 1891, p.506. Note that the date of the citation is only 25 years after the ratification of the 14th Amendment, and only 16 years after _Minor v. Happersett_ was decided.
So, a "foreigner" is someone who is "not a citizen or subject of the state or country of which mention is made, or any one owing allegiance to a foreign state or sovereign." That excludes anyone who has foreign citizenship.
Foreigners are legally "under the jurisdiction" of a foreign power. And, according to the author of the 14th Amendment, the phrase "under the jurisdiction of the United States" was intended to exclude anyone who was a "foreigner" (and/or an "alien.")
In 2009, the Berkeley Journal of International Law published a comprehensive historical analysis of the words "foreigner" and "alien", as used in English and American legal writings during the late eighteenth century. Research by Anderson Berry found that the word "foreigner", when used in an international context, has a general meaning and a specific meaning. In the general sense, anyone who was born in a foreign country or is a citizen or subject of a foreign country is a "foreigner". But in the specific sense, "foreigner" is used in contradistinction to "alien".
Quote: "...the overwhelming majority of sources available to the drafters of the judicial bill [of 1789] define an "alien" as an individual who: 1) is foreign-born, and 2) resides in a sovereign's territory other than the one where he was born. A "foreigner" is defined as an individual who: 1) is foreign-born, or more specifically, is a foreign citizen or subject, or 2) is a foreign-born individual residing extraterritorially [outside the sovereign's territory]. (Berry, pp.337-8)" ~ "Whether Foreigner or Alien: A New Look at the Original Language of the Alien Tort Statute," Volume 27, Issue 2
So, "aliens" are persons who relocate permanently to one country, while they are still citizens or subjects of some other country. Presumably, aliens intend to renounce their allegiance to their country of origin and become naturalized citizens of the country of their new permanent residence. In contrast, "foreigners" are temporary visitors who retain citizenship and permanent residence in their home country and intend to someday return to their home country.
Bottom line: To enter a country without official permission, when the laws of that country define such an act as a crime, is an explicit rejection of that country's "jurisdiction."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVFWvL1greA