Illegal Immigrants' Kids Called “Invaders” in New Senate Bill
Sometimes the Supreme Court closes a door but leaves a window wide open. That's exactly what happened with birthright citizenship, and one senator just climbed through.
Back in June, the Supreme Court ruled against President Trump's executive order that tried to end automatic citizenship for kids born here to parents who are in the country illegally or just passing through.
The case is called Trump v. Barbara.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, and he leaned on a 128-year-old case, Wong Kim Ark, to say the 14th Amendment covers almost everyone born on American soil.
That sounds like a total loss for anyone who wants to fix this. But it isn't. Because Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote something different.
He agreed Trump's order had a problem, but not a constitutional one. His issue was with federal statute, not the Constitution itself.
And he pointed out something important: Wong Kim Ark itself carved out exceptions.
Kids of foreign diplomats don't get automatic citizenship. And kids of “invaders,” meaning people involved in a hostile occupation, don't either.
Kavanaugh basically told Congress: if you want to change this, don't fight the Constitution. Change the law instead.
Indiana Senator Jim Banks read that opinion closely, and he didn't wait around. He's introducing something called the Citizenship Act.
It doesn't touch the 14th Amendment. It doesn't ask the courts to reverse themselves. Instead, it uses federal law to define illegal immigrants and birth tourists as falling under that “invader” exception the Supreme Court already recognizes.
Banks isn't pulling this out of thin air, either. His bill points to the Constitution's own language.
Article IV says the federal government has to protect states from invasion. Article I gives Congress the power over naturalization rules.
He's also citing James Madison, who argued back in 1788 that citizenship rules belong to Congress, not individual states or courts.
Now, critics will say this is a stretch. They'll argue “invaders” was always meant for soldiers and hostile armies, not families crossing the border looking for work or a better life.
That's a fair debate, and it's one the courts have honestly never fully settled, because the Supreme Court has never spelled out exactly what “invasion” means in this context.
But here's the thing conservatives have been saying for years.
Birthright citizenship for kids of people who broke immigration law in the first place was never supposed to be automatic.
It turned into a magnet, encouraging people to cross illegally just so their children would be citizens.
Banks' bill is a shot at fixing that through the front door, using Congress the way the Constitution set it up, instead of relying on an executive order that courts can just strike down.
This bill goes the other direction. It respects the process instead of trying to shortcut it.
Whether the Citizenship Act passes is anyone's guess. But it proves something important.
When the Supreme Court hands conservatives a narrow path forward, some lawmakers are actually willing to walk it instead of just complaining on cable news.
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