Thread by @HMAesq

Emperor Trump thinks he can end #birthrightcitizenship by executive order.

Short answer: No.
Long answer: No, no, no.

This is such a ridiculous proposal that it's not worth spilling ink explaining. But there are dangers here.

1. American citizenship is being devalued. If it can be revoked or reinterpreted by mere executive order, it's less valuable than a Costco membership.

Remember: the admin has denied passports to (mostly) Latinos born in the US but near the border.

https://twitter.com/ajplus/status/1042547993541468160

And there is now a denaturalization task force to revoke citizenship of certain naturalized citizens. Certainly, these attacks on US citizens are part of the administration's relentless attacks on all Americans, aspiring or otherwise.

vox.com/2018/7/18/1756…

2. This isn't "conservative" or an "alternative viewpoint" or a "minority position." It's white nationalism. It's about racial purity, not economics or national security. Let's not be afraid to call this what it is.

I've been singularly focused on unsealing the #TantonPapers. John Tanton was the white nationalist founder of the organizations currently informing US immigration policy. Guess what? He wasn't a fan of the 14th Amendment. Here's a letter he penned in 1975:

As late as April 2016, one of Tanton's groups wrote "The Supreme Court has never ruled on the question of whether children born to tourists are to be considered U.S. citizens at birth."

They've been foaming at the mouth about the 14th Amendment and its guarantee of equality.

3. Trump likes to float theories around to see what sticks. There's no indication he'll sign such an order (and the timing! 6 days before midterms) but part of the damage is he forces a debate on birthright citizenship.

Lost in the tussle is the fact that if the 14th Amendment can be so easily manipulated, so can the 2nd. The more we talk about it, the greater the chance it'll make it to the Supreme Court, and although I'd predict a 9-0 strikedown, he'll still make someprogress. Why? Because:

4. Even if the EO never sees the light of day, there are many ways to "deny" citizenship without revoking it. Ultimately, citizenship is a bundle of rights that is supposed to respected by a government of the people.

What if the government fails to respect it?

Refuses to confer a benefit, like a US citizen child filing for an out-of-status parent, while allowing that child to retain their US passport? Harassing them on re-entry into the United States after foreign travel? Suppressing their vote?

Now, each of these deplorable actions would draw legal challenges - but it's not as "slam dunk" as a wholesale repeal of the 14th Amendment.

Trump's remarks amount to an Overton window shifting, and that is a very real damage to our discourse.

How to fight back?

1. Vote, dammit. TAKE IT ALL BACK. The House, the Senate. The country. Make sure other vote.

2. Make our elected officials speak: US citizenship has to mean something.

3. Mess with the 14th, mess with the 2nd.

4. Lawyers: Read up on 8 USC 1503. Gives the right to sue if a privilege or right of citizenship is denied. We will NOT have a country with classes of citizenship.

5. Call out journalists who provide prime airtime to white nationalists. Let them gab in their own echo chambers.