IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 140 

Calling on the President to resume the interpretation of section 1 of the 

14th Amendment to the Constitution as originally intended and applied 

as law for a century. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 22, 2019 

Mr. BABIN submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Calling on the President to resume the interpretation of 

section 1 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution 

as originally intended and applied as law for a century. 

Whereas the language of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution is recognized as vital for its contributions to 

civil rights law, due process, and equal protection under 

the law; 

Whereas the first sentence of section 1 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution was intended to assure that no 

State could deny fair and due citizenship to any formerly 

enslaved person domiciled in the United States; 

Whereas the jurisdiction clause of the 14th Amendment was 

specifically included to modify and clarify ‘‘all persons 

born or naturalized in the United States’’; 


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•HRES 140 IH 

Whereas the words ‘‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof’’, as 

written in section 1 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, meant not owing any allegiance to another foreign power; 

Whereas an illegal alien, upon setting foot into this Nation, 

cannot meet the requirement of section 1 of the 14th 

Amendment to reside in a State; 

Whereas being born on United States soil by parents who are 

illegally inside the country and therefore not under the 

legal jurisdiction of the United States does not qualify a 

person as a citizen of these United States but of the nation to which the mother or father hold citizenship; 

Whereas if a person is present in the United States illegally, 

a child born in the United States to that parent would 

owe allegiance to that foreign power which has jurisdiction over that parent; 

Whereas interpretation of section 1 of the 14th Amendment 

devolved in the latter half of the 20th century away from 

the original intent and clear meaning upon ratification of 

the amendment; 

Whereas the first sentence of section 1 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution has been manipulated and 

abused by illegal aliens to unfairly gain citizenship for 

their children and incentivizes illegality; 

Whereas ending the practice of automatically extending citizenship to children born in the United States by a mother in the country illegally and therefore not under the jurisdiction of the United States should not require an additional constitutional amendment; 

Whereas those in the United States illegally are subject to 

our laws by their presence within our border, but are not 


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•HRES 140 IH 

subject to the more complete jurisdiction envisioned by 

the 14th Amendment as a precondition for automatic 

citizenship; 

Whereas the Supreme Court has never held that children 

born on United States soil to parents who are in the 

country illegally should automatically receive citizenship; 

Whereas a sovereign nation has the right to determine its 

own qualifications for citizenship; 

Whereas only 30 sovereign nations recognize a form of birthright citizenship, including only two, the United States 

and Canada, classified by the International Monetary 

Fund as first world countries; 

Whereas during this century three sovereign nations, Ireland, 

New Zealand, and Australia, have ended their practice of 

birthright citizenship; and 

Whereas section 5 of the 14th Amendment explicitly delegates to Congress the right to determine how the provisions of the amendment are to be applied: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) calls upon the Government of the United 

3 States to return to the proper, original, and in4 tended interpretation of section 1 of the 14th 

5 Amendment, taking into account the jurisdiction 

6 clause; 

7 (2) disapproves of birthright citizenship and in8 tends to pursue legislative measures if necessary to 

9 ensure the practice is appropriately ended; 


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•HRES 140 IH 

1 (3) supports the directives of the Trump Ad2 ministration to properly interpret section 1 of the 

3 14th Amendment and, if necessary, seek judicial 

4 clarification as to the intent of the language of the 

5 amendment; and 

6 (4) will seek, if necessary, a legislative solution 

7 to end birthright citizenship. 

Æ 


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