Legal scholar Mike Davis has warned that the Supreme Court could rule against President Donald Trump on birthright citizenship.
“I worry this is a 7-2 case, and I worry that the only two justices who will actually have the courage to follow the law here are Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito,” Davis said, adding that he believes Chief Justice John Roberts and the three Trump-appointed justices could side with the court’s liberal bloc.
Despite that concern, Davis argued the constitutional question itself is straightforward. “The law is so crystal clear here that we the people, the sovereign citizens of America, get to decide who comes, who goes, get to decide who our fellow citizens are, and we didn’t give that away.”
Davis pointed to the origins of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, stating, “We certainly did not give that away after the Civil War. The 14th Amendment, the Birthright Citizenship Clause, was to correct an egregious wrong with the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision that held that the freed slaves are not citizens. We fixed that with the 14th Amendment.”
He acknowledged that later Supreme Court rulings expanded citizenship to certain groups, noting, “There was a Supreme Court case that has extended that to lawful and permanent residents of the United States,” referencing decisions tied to the Chinese Exclusion Act era.
However, Davis rejected the idea that birthright citizenship applies to illegal immigrants or so-called birth tourism. “There is no way in hell that the proponents of the 14th Amendment or the public at the time ever agreed to give birthright citizenship to illegal aliens,” he said.
He continued, “There’s no way in hell we agreed to that. And if the Supreme Court actually holds that the 14th Amendment gives birthright citizenship to Chinese birth tourists, the Supreme Court is going to torch its legitimacy with the American people.”
Host Jack Posobiec agreed with the concerns about institutional credibility. “I think that’s exactly right. And I think the legitimacy is going to absolutely come in question,” Posobiec said.
Posobiec said that such a ruling could spark a political response, including a constitutional amendment. “If that is the case, and they come out saying that we need a constitutional amendment to overturn birthright citizenship… then by all means, we can push it. The president can push it. This would be a popular effort. This would absolutely get passed.”
He added that the issue could become a defining political fight. “It’s something, by the way, that could even become an entirely new way to change the midterm elections this year. If we put that on the ballot and we say, we are fighting for the citizens of the United States of America… a constitutional amendment.”
