Here's the History on an Executive Order being all that's Needed

You may find this fascinating, so read on.

I am in favor of birthright citizenship. The Constitution does call for it. But, one of those involved in writing the Fourteenth Amendment believed otherwise. If he were alive today, he would stand with President Trump in saying the Fourteenth Amendment doesn't grant the children of the undocumented the right to citizenship. Now, if this is right, then an executive order is the right thing to do and is not out of order.

Sen. Jacob M. Howard, arguing for inclusion of the phrase, "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof," said the Fourteen Amendment, "will not, of course, include persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers accredited to the government of the United States, but will include every other class of person."

Howard did not want American Natives -- if I can use that term -- and children of gypsies born here but who remained (perhaps in his mind) foreigners, to have citizenship. He felt inclusion of the phrase, "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof," achieved this. In the Senate debate on the Fourteenth Amendment, there was a long discussion about Native Americans. It was noted they didn't fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. They didn't pay taxes, and they didn't answer to our laws, so they clearly weren't under our jurisdiction. So, Howard and others felt inclusion of the phrase, "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof," excluded them from birthright citizenship.

The Senate discussion on gypsies (many of whom were immigrants) was not as extensive as that of American Natives, But apparently Howard felt the same way about them. They wandered from place to place and town to town without really becoming subject to the laws of the land. They didn't vote and they didn't pay taxes. So, it appears Howard felt that by inserting the language, "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof," gypsies -- which were the 1866 version of "illegal aliens" -- were excluded from birthright citizenship.

So, as much as President Trump is being castigated and derided for suggesting he has the right to get rid of birthright citizenship with the stroke of his pen, what he says is not without some basis. At least one of those involved in the drafting of the Fourteenth Amendment would agree with him.