On Tuesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “The Story,” George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley stated that he doesn’t see “how people can say with such certainty” that the 14th Amendment grants citizenship to anyone born in the US and that there are good arguments on both sides of the issue. Turley added that an executive order is not the best way to go about dealing with the question of birthright citizenship.
Turley said, “[T]here’s a good debate here. There are three different types of interpretations that have been put forward. I can’t imagine how people can say with such certainty that this language means that anyone in the United States for any reason can have a citizen when they give birth on our soil. That’s not evident from the text of the amendment. Many people at the time clearly didn’t hold that view. Now, it’s not — that’s not a frivolous view. There’s good faith arguments on both sides, but the Supreme Court has never said with any clarity or finality what it means.”
He added that the constitutionality of an executive order “is more doubtful. I think Lindsey Graham is right that the best way to go about this is with legislation. … [A]n executive order is not the ideal way to go here.”
He further stated that it would be a good thing if the Supreme Court ruled on the meaning of the amendment.
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