Senator Who Helped Write Birthright Citizenship Clause to not include illegal aliens
Senator Who Wrote Birthright Citizenship Clause Said It Doesn't Include Aliens
The
14th
Amendment
was
written
to
guarantee
citizenship
to
formerly
enslaved
Americans
and
their
children.
To
that
end,
its
first
sentence
reads:
"All
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."
But
it
surely
was
not
intended
to
be
a
blanket
citizenship
grant.
Sen. Benjamin Wade introduced the citizenship clause on May 23, 1866, believing that the amendment needed a clear definition of citizenship because the broader guarantees of the 14th Amendment depended on it. Wade originally proposed using this language: "persons born in the United States or naturalized by the laws thereof."
Such language may have lent slightly more credence to the left's claim that anyone born here is a citizen. But that's not what the amendment says. In fact, Sen. Jacob Howard, upon receiving Wade's proposal, added the "subject to the jurisdiction" clause.......................
During the debate on the clause, Howard said during opening remarks that "I do not propose to say anything on that subject except that the question of citizenship has been so fully discussed in this body as not to need any further elucidation, in my opinion."
"This amendment which I have offered is simply declaratory of what I regard as the law of the land already, that every person born within the limits of the United States, and subject to their jurisdiction, is by virtue of natural law and national law a citizen of the United States," Howard continued. "This will not, of course, include persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers accredited to the Government of the United States, but will include every other class of persons."
As Erler explains, Howard was referring to the Civil Rights Act of 1866 when he said the citizenship clause was "simply declaratory" of the "law of the land already."