Title: 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.
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
This resolution expresses disapproval of birthright citizenship, under which a person born in the United States is deemed to be a U.S. citizen.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 140 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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'';
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 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
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) calls upon the Government of the United States to 
        return to the proper, original, and intended interpretation of 
        section 1 of the 14th Amendment, taking into account the 
        jurisdiction clause;
            (2) disapproves of birthright citizenship and intends to 
        pursue legislative measures if necessary to ensure the practice 
        is appropriately ended;
            (3) supports the directives of the Trump Administration to 
        properly interpret section 1 of the 14th Amendment and, if 
        necessary, seek judicial clarification as to the intent of the 
        language of the amendment; and
            (4) will seek, if necessary, a legislative solution to end 
        birthright citizenship.
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