Birthright Citizenship

I read the news story Jan. 22 in the Boston Herald about the filing by Attorney General Andrea Campbell of a lawsuit with a number of other state attorneys general concerning Donald Trump’s executive order on the issue of birthright citizenship as it pertains to the 14th Amendment.

Most  Democrats, liberal organizations and the legacy media interpret it to include American-born children of those in this country illegally as protected under the US Constitution to be legally present in this country under birthright citizenship.

Trump and many others say the 14th Amendment needs to be re-interpreted and I think he is correct.

When it comes to birthright citizenship, I think both Trump and his critics like Campbell are both technically right. Following the Civil War, the 14th Amendment was added to our constitution to protect all formerly enslaved people going forward. They were here legally and most of them in the 1860s were also born here. They had every right to be US citizens and this right was finally recognized by the United States of America as the law of the land.

However, the way in which the 14th Amendment was written did not clarify what the proponents of the amendment actually meant. It should have been re-examined long before now.

President Trump can not alone change anything in the Constitution regardless of how he and others interpret the amendment’s wording.

This birthright citizenship issue will need to make its way up through the judicial system and ultimately be decided by a US Supreme Court decision once and for all, interpreting the precise meaning of the words in the 14th Amendment. The last thing we need are rival politicians fighting with each other in wordfare.

Haven’t we had enough bitterness and rancor among us? It is a new year and a new day. Time to move forward.

President Trump should be praised for bringing the controversy over birthright citizenship front and center.

Sal Giarratani

East Boston