Although it is a travesty that far too many tens-of-millions of American citizens are bereft of knowledge about the U.S. Constitution, every American should be confident that their elected representatives are well-versed in the nation’s founding document. And if those representatives are ignorant about anything in the founding document, they should go to great lengths to get acquainted with the Constitution they all took a solemn “so help me god” oath to defend, support, and protect; that is particularly true of the criminal sitting in a place he is too corrupt to visit, much less occupy.
In less than two weeks Trump has made it abundantly clear that not only does he have no regard for the Constitution, he believes he can nullify parts he personally abhors. Something he revealed shortly after his poorly-attended inauguration was that he hates the Constitution on general principles, so it is no great shock he has attempted to unilaterally abolish parts of the Constitution’s 1st and 14th Amendment recently.
The first assault on the 14th Amendment was in service to the co-rulers of the federal government, extremist Christians. Yesterday he acted in service to the Aryan racists among his singularly nasty base, and it is being revealed more each day just how violently nasty his base really is.
On Monday Trump announced that he was preparing to nullify part of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment by executive order and it follows, by less than two weeks, his religious maneuver nullifying the 14th Amendment’s due process rights for about 1.5 million Americans his administration says no longer exist in Trump’s America. Yesterday’s move was also an attack on the 14th Amendment; this time it is the Constitution’s guarantee of “birthright citizenship” (jus soli) because Trump hates people of color, particularly the “Brown” color, nearly as much as he hates the Constitution. It is noteworthy that jus soli is also the law of the land according to 8 U.S.C. § 1401 (Nationals and citizens of United States at birth).
As a reminder, regarding both birthright citizenship and due process rights, Section 1 of the 14th Amendment clearly states:
“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. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” (author bold)
If that section is unclear, 8 U.S.C. § 1401 is very blunt, and clear. It states:
“The following shall be nationals and citizens of the United States – a person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”
If a Republican Congress did decide to repeal 8 U.S.C. § 1401 to sate Trump and his nasty Aryan supporters, the 14th Amendment still guarantees jus soli and no executive order can change or abolish any part of the Constitution – not unilaterally or by an act of an Aryan Congress.
It seems reasonable to assume that a few Americans really do comprehend that it requires a plurality of states (38) to ratify any change to the Constitution, as well as the full participation of the people’s representatives in Congress. Whomever is sitting in the Oval Office has no input or participation in the process to amend any part of the Constitution as laid out in Article V of the document. But that particular rule in the Constitution, indeed the entire Constitution, is meaningless to Trump. No aspiring fascist dictator would ever be expected to abide by the law of the land, and Trump is certainly an aspiring fascist dictator and has disregarded longstanding laws since even before his poorly-attended inauguration (see conflict of interest, nepotism, and emoluments).
Of course being a filthy liar should be a violation of the Constitution, but it is not which is why Trump stated without compunction that America is the only nation on the planet that grants birthright citizenship. Like 90 percent of what Trump says in public, America is not unique in granting birthright citizenship – some 30-plus other nations grant jus soli according to their constitutions and law of the land.
Trump also lied when he said the nation’s top legal scholars assured him that he is not bound by the 14th Amendment - no matter it is part of the document he “so help me god” swore to “preserve, protect, and defend.” That insanity came from two “fringe” academics who claim that the 14th Amendment has been misinterpreted by every administration and Congress for the past one-hundred-and-fifty years; apparently the pair of anti-immigration malcontents fail to understand the simple meaning of “all persons born in the United States are citizens of the United States.”
As no small number of articles have noted, it is veritably unanimous among real legal scholars that Trump cannot nullify any part of that document he “so help me god” swore on not one, but two Christian bibles, to “preserve, protect and defend.” Based on his intent to violate that “so help me god” oath he swore to uphold, he even lied during his poorly-attended inauguration; he never intended to do anything but violate the Constitution.
It is almost certain that, as WaPo notes, Trump is pandering to his Aryan base on two fronts – he decides who gets to be an American and assures his white supporters that “their country” will remain a white majority population. In fact, Trump’s announcement was a signal to the kind of white nationalist Trump supporter who slaughtered 11 innocent Jewish adherents. Remember, Trump did have as a campaign message, albeit a dog whistle, that if elected he would make America white and Christian.
It is also a campaign stunt like his absurd idea of sending 5,200 active duty soldiers to do battle with Central American refugees, mostly women and children, that are still about 900 miles from America’s southern border. Exactly like the yearly “caravan” to raise awareness to the horrid conditions in their countries, the refugees are seeking asylum in what used to be a free and open society; they are not an invasion force and Trump knows it. But calling it a humanitarian exercise as opposed to an “invasion” would not suit Trump’s evil character and it certainly would not instill more fear and loathing in Trump’s Aryan base.
It is likely that although abominable, Trump’s announcement was not entirely unexpected by any American keeping score of Trump tyrannical attempt to “rule” America by executive dictate. And although his plan is an atrocity and likely to incur legal challenges if implemented, Americans should quake at the thought of a case going before the High Court. Remember, one of the reasons Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court is because he has never, never ever, heard of a situation where a Republican in the White House is prevented from ruling with impunity.
Whether an American agrees with anything Trump has attempted along the lines of violating the Constitution or rule of law, every American should be terrified that the White House occupant does not feel constrained by the laws of the land. Trump has complained openly that the Constitution is “bad for America,” and attempted to abridge citizens’ Constitutional rights by executive fiat. Trump wanted to abridge press freedom, ban protests and has deleted a class of Americans from existence as far as the federal government is concerned. And throughout it all, Republicans in Congress have been frightened sissies to call out Trump or hold him responsible for, at least, violating his “so help me god” oath of office.
One hopes this latest Trump outrage is sent where it belongs - the sewer along with the rest of Trump’s corrupt cronies. Even if that is the case, it will not stop Trump from attempting to rule by executive edict, regardless of the law of the land according to his wont and tyrannical aspirations. It may be that Trump’s Aryan and Christian extremist base are enamored at the idea of a tyrant ruling with impunity, but that love affair will come to a screeching halt as soon as they find themselves on the receiving end of some unconstitutional executive order and they have no constitutional rights to express their grievances without fear of imprisonment.