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The clowns at the Department of Homeland Security are considering hosting
a television show where immigrants compete for citizenship.
Gee. Can you just imagine the wording of the new citizenship amendment?
And WHY are those morons wasting our time and money even looking at such idiocy?
Patricia A. O'Malley
Social Policy & Programs Consulting ~ Community Matters
412-310-4886 ~ info@patomalley-consulting.com
Copyright Patricia A. O'Malley ~ All rights reserved
Established 1993
American Birthright Citizenship
What it means and what to do now.
August 14, 2025
The US Supreme Court protected the constitutional concept of birthright citizenship in its decision, published July 1.
It generally means that if you’re born in the United States, you are automatically an American citizen, regardless of your heritage or your parents’ status.
LEGALITIES
The Constitution’s 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, says:
"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...."
It’s not rocket science. It's reading at a seventh grade level.
Donald Trump wants to abolish this standard because he’s a lazy, horrid, stupid, crazy, selfish person who says outrageous stuff just to get attention.
Trump issued Executive Order 14160 on January 20, 2025. It claims that birthright citizenship doesn’t apply to children born from mothers who are in the United States illegally. The Constitution says no such thing. And the Court agreed.
Birthright opponents claim that the amendment was added only to refer to US-born emancipated slaves.
However, the founders wrote the Constitution from scratch. There had never been anything like it. They could have put anything they wanted into it; they were educated men.
There are enough words in the English language to say whatever you want to say. If they had wanted it to apply ONLY to freed slaves, they would have said so. They chose the words they chose. And these are the words we live by.
While the Supreme Court decision affirmed the sanctity of the birthright, it did expand presidential power in tangential areas. They’re covered in the link below.
REALILTIES
My paternal grandparents immigrated from Ireland in the 1920s. They became US citizens in 1948.
My father, born in Pittsburgh in 1929, got his citizenship from that birthright.
My maternal great-grandparents immigrated from Croatia around 1900.
My grandmother, born in Pittsburgh in 1910, was automatically a citizen, as was my mother in 1929.
I was born in Pittsburgh in 1954 to automatic citizenship.
You probably have similar stories in your family.
The Constitution says what it says. Birthright citizenship exists. We do not amend it by Executive Order. Article V defines our amendment process. If Trump and his stooges want to change our citizenship principles, they can introduce an amendment in Congress and take their chances.
So how would anyone become a citizen?
If you can’t get citizenship by birth, then does everyone have to apply for citizenship?
When? How? Where? What is the procedure?
Our inimitable president is too lazy and stupid to think that far ahead.
Gee. That sure would cut down on the eligible voter rolls. Hmmmm.
AND MORE
You can bet that Trump, driven by noted xenophobe Stephen Miller, will probably try again, in some other egregious way.
We must be prepared.
There’s more to this than just citizenship. Trump claims the power to use Executive Orders to violate the Constitution in any manner or for any purpose he wants. It doesn’t work that way. Our Constitution exists for a reason.
Americans don’t know what it says or how it works because our schools refuse to teach it.
It only takes ONE PERSON to defeat all of Trump's plans.
But it won't happen because DEMOCRATS ARE COWARDS.
Contact your senators.
Tell them to stop giving him money for stupid stuff.
FILIBUSTER EVERYTHING.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Read the Constitution
White House: Protecting The Meaning And Value Of American Citizenship
US Citizenship and Immigration Services
American Immigration Council:
In Birthright Citizenship Decision, the Supreme Court Expanded Trump’s Power
NPR: Supreme Court justices appear divided in birthright citizenship arguments
Jeelani Law Firm PLC: A Reality Show Where the Prize Is Citizenship?
Executive Orders and the US Constitution
Defective Teaching Methods Produce American Political Ignorance
We Can Save American Democracy
What’s a Filibuster?
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