Political Take

Proud to be a New Yorker

We at the Rockland County Times were as surprised as anyone when President Donald Trump decided last week to host a one man constitutional convention in an effort to end birth right citizenship in America. President Trumpโ€™s bold and exciting redefinition of the 14th Amendment ,which clearly states โ€œAll 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,โ€ย  rests on the premise that people who have entered the United States unlawfully are not subject to the rule of our government. ย 

ย As argued in the executive order President Trump signed last week โ€œthe Fourteenth Amendment has always excluded from birthright citizenship persons who were born in the United States but not subject to the jurisdiction thereof.โ€

This unconventional interpretation, if accepted, would imply that non U.S. Citizens living in America are not subject to jurisdiction of our government, raising all sorts of questions about the United Statesโ€™ legal authority to detain, deport, or even charge them sales tax. While we at the RCT look forward to reporting on the astonishing developments that would follow the acceptance of such a proclamation, the president faces a steep challenge in implementing this revolutionary new idea.ย 

ย As a paragon of law, order, and American greatness, President Trump should be well awareย  that reinterpretingย  an amendment to the constitution is not technically an authority vested in the office of the president. Though we applaud the presidentโ€™s very smart efforts to seize powers explicitly not granted to his branch of government, we at the RCT must admit slight trepidation at his efforts.

As Iโ€™m sure President Trump is well aware, removing or altering an amendment to the constitutionย  is a lengthy process that requires the approval of two-thirds of both houses of Congress,ย  and ratification by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states.ย 

In short, the presidentโ€™s efforts to reinterpret the 14th amendment will inevitably face legal hurdles and indeed is now the subject of multipleย  lawsuits, including efforts lead by the Attorney Generals of twenty two states, including New York. Birth Right citizenship will remain in effect as these legal battles play out.

As firm and unbiased believers in the constitution and the rule of law, the RCT is proud to be based in of one of the states that possesses the integrity and courage to challenge President Trump on this matter. New Yorkโ€™s Attorney General Lelita James will have her work cut out for her as President Trump continues his remarkable experiment in redefining the presidency. On Tuesday afternoon, James vowed to sue the federal government over a totally unrelated matter; President Trumpโ€™s decision to pause funding for all federal grants and loans. That order was reascended on Wednesday.ย 

While some might claim that the president has no right to suspend funds already approved by Congress, an important example of the separation of powers between the three branches of government, President Trump felt differently, before abruptly changing course. Time will tell if Attorney General James and other like minded State Attorney Generals can assert a more traditional understanding of what a president can legally do. We wish her the best of luck.

 

 

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