Supreme Court gets history lesson as it threatens to blow up birthright citizenship

[turbinetree]

By Travis Gettys
Published March 17, 2026 9:05 AM ET

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two weeks on the birthright citizenship case, and legal experts chewed over the history of that issue.

The Reconstruction-era 14th Amendment grants citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof," which was specifically intended to apply to the children born to former enslaved people. But experts explained on Slate's "Amicus" podcast how the history of migration informed that constitutional right.

"The biggest myth about American immigration is that until the federal government started enforcing our borders in the late 19th century, it was just open borders," said Anna O. Law, the Herbert Kurz chair in constitutional rights at CUNY Brooklyn College.

https://www.rawstory.com/birthright-citizenship-supreme-court/

[Walleye]

1. The statement "open borders" is always a lie

[CanonRay]

2. I always laugh when Italian MATAts claim their grandparents or great grandparents

came here "legally", There was no way to do it illegally. If you got here you were in,

[dem4decades]

3. They are the worst, the biggest hypocrites.

[ProfessorGAC]

4. My Dad's Parents Cane Here...

...in the 1920s.
Their experience was very different than family that immigrated earlier.
The only reason my grandparents were green-lighted was because they had 3 sponsors, one born in the US, and my grandfather was an experienced railroad worker, so there was a specific job waiting for him.
As you said, those here pre-WWI and (mom's side of the family), the 1890s, just showed up.
There were no laws to break.
My grandparents, on the other hand, had multiple hurdles to clear.
Things changed a lot in 12 or 15 years. Those changes, similar to now, were rooted in xenophobia.

[CanonRay]

6. My grandparents came in 1893

One of the earlier Sicilian immigrants. They had no skills and no money. I think the only restrictions were medical e.g. Tuberculosis.

[Buckeyeblue]

5. The 14th amendment is pretty clear

If the SC was to try and slice and dice the 14th amendment to not apply to children born to parents who are not US citizens, we might as well toss the constitution.