Will Gaetz’s Proposal Get Traction?

by Sharon Rondeau

(Jul. 26, 2023) — As reported by The Gateway Pundit Tuesday, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL1) has filed a bill aimed at ceasing the federal government’s policy of awarding automatic U.S. citizenship to anyone born in the country, regardless of the parents’ citizenship or status.

The practice is often referred to as “birthright citizenship” and derived, Gaetz maintained, from a wrongful reading of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.

The ten-page proposal seeks to “amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to clarify the application of birthright citizenship, and for other purposes.”

“The purpose of this Act,” the bill begins, “is to recognize the principle of limited jus soli conveyed in the 14th Amendment and codified in the Immigration and Nationality Act through the statement, ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof’, and reform United States immigration law to be consistent with the statement’s original meaning by denying auto-matic citizenship at birth to children born in the United States to parents who are not United States nationals, aliens lawfully admitted to the United States as refugees, aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence, or aliens performing active service in the United States Armed Forces” [sic].

TGP embedded a video from Gaetz’s Twitter timeline of a broadcast in which Gaetz provided his justification for the bill. “…Birthright citizenship by fraud has started to predominate in a few areas and in a few industries,” he said. “In 2021, 400,000 ‘anchor babies’ were born in the United States, outpacing the births in 49 states…Anchor babies on our soil create this indefinite sanctuary for the parent, and that doesn’t really make sense with a coordinated, organized immigration system…so an erroneous interpretation of the 14th Amendment has found its way into the Immigration and Nationality Act and is now the law of the land…”

The INA can be read here. The section titled “Nationals and citizens of United States at birth” classified as 8 U.S.C. 1401 established those considered “U.S. citizens at birth,” which largely requires a U.S.-citizen parent. The section states (less “Statutory Notes” and amendments):

The following shall be nationals and citizens of the United States at birth:

(a) a person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof;

(b) a person born in the United States to a member of an Indian, Eskimo, Aleutian, or other aboriginal tribe: Provided, That the granting of citizenship under this subsection shall not in any manner impair or otherwise affect the right of such person to tribal or other property;

(c) a person born outside of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents both of whom are citizens of the United States and one of whom has had a residence in the United States or one of its outlying possessions, prior to the birth of such person;

(d) a person born outside of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents one of whom is a citizen of the United States who has been physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for a continuous period of one year prior to the birth of such person, and the other of whom is a national, but not a citizen of the United States;

(e) a person born in an outlying possession of the United States of parents one of whom is a citizen of the United States who has been physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for a continuous period of one year at any time prior to the birth of such person;

(f) a person of unknown parentage found in the United States while under the age of five years, until shown, prior to his attaining the age of twenty-one years, not to have been born in the United States;

(g) a person born outside the geographical limits of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents one of whom is an alien, and the other a citizen of the United States who, prior to the birth of such person, was physically present in the United States or its outlying possessions for a period or periods totaling not less than five years, at least two of which were after attaining the age of fourteen years: Provided, That any periods of honorable service in the Armed Forces of the United States, or periods of employment with the United States Government or with an international organization as that term is defined in section 288 of title 22 by such citizen parent, or any periods during which such citizen parent is physically present abroad as the dependent unmarried son or daughter and a member of the household of a person (A) honorably serving with the Armed Forces of the United States, or (B) employed by the United States Government or an international organization as defined in section 288 of title 22, may be included in order to satisfy the physical-presence requirement of this paragraph. This proviso shall be applicable to persons born on or after December 24, 1952, to the same extent as if it had become effective in its present form on that date; and

(h) a person born before noon (Eastern Standard Time) May 24, 1934, outside the limits and jurisdiction of the United States of an alien father and a mother who is a citizen of the United States who, prior to the birth of such person, had resided in the United States

Gaetz’s full commentary appears on his Rumble channel as episode 115 of his show, “Firebrand.” In the broadcast, he stressed a clause in the 14th Amendment, “subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” contending it has been “interpreted…to give citizenship to virtually every human born on American soil. This is not a standard that is largely recognized in the modern world.”

The full amendment, ratified in 1868 following and responsive to the emancipation of American slaves, reads:

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.

Should a case be brought to the U.S. Supreme Court on the clause’s meaning, Gaetz said, he is “confident” the court “would find that ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof’ is a limiting clause.”

The term “jus soli” is often invoked in this publication in discussions on the meaning of the term, “natural born Citizen” found in Article II, Section 1, clause 5 of the U.S. Constitution, which is one of three eligibility criteria the Founders set forth for the president and commander-in-chief. The 14th Amendment is frequently brought into those discussions and even conflated with “natural born Citizen” despite its irrelevancy to the presidency, as the amendment was not passed until decades after the Constitution was ratified.

Just as Gaetz believes the 14th Amendment “limited” the awarding of citizenship in its scope, many constitutional scholars believe the Founders intended “natural born Citizen” to limit presidential candidates to a specific subset of U.S. citizens without born foreign allegiances.

“Our country is being invaded,” Gaetz stated toward the end of the Twitter clip. “The whole world is laughing at us…”

Congress, he said, has the authority in Article I of the Constitution, “to establish an uniform rule of naturalization.”

An amendment is unnecessary, Gaetz said. “All we need to do is amend existing law…”

He urged listeners to contact their congressmen to support the measure.

Forty-fifth President of the United States Donald J. Trump has also advocated abolishing “birthright citizenship” both during his 2016 race and on the 2024 campaign trail.