I was born in the wee hours of Dec.15, 1980 at St. Mary’s Hospital, now Hoboken University Medical, the same hospital where Frank Sinatra was born. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I learned my family was undocumented at my birth and on through my early childhood. I was an adult by the time I realized I had gained U.S. citizenship through birthright, which the Trump administration is now attempting to strike down.
On Wednesday the Supreme Court heard arguments for the Trump administration’s challenge of birthright citizenship, which was established by the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” It’s the latter portion — “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” — that leaves room for interpretation, forming the beachhead upon which legal arguments against birthright citizenship have been mounted. Republicans claim that “jurisdiction thereof” does not apply to undocumented immigrants, as they owe allegiance to another country and, therefore, are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
