KOAT legal expert John Day explains how the jargon surrounding the language of the Fourteenth Amendment has evolved over the more than century-long legal precedent.
“Well the definition was real specific when it was passed, which was after the Civil War,” Day said. “It was mainly directed at the descents of people who had been enslaved. The idea now it’s trying to be applied in a much different context many years later, that’s one of the issues that’s going to have to be decided.”
One argument being made against birthright citizenship is the phrasing, “under the jurisdiction of,” which can be interpreted as a foreign government having legal precedence over said person.
Day explains the conflicting side’s standpoint on their legal status.
