The Words of the Fourteenth Suggest the Undocumented can Stay

   If you want the law to say those who are under the jurisdiction of the U.S. are those who have voting rights and who can be drafted, and that that will not include those who are of undocumented status, you better say that. Otherwise, "under the jurisdiction thereof," does, indeed, include anyone who is subject to the laws of the land. Say what you mean, if you want it to mean what you mean.
   So, if you can arrest them (hmm, if you suppose to have power to deport them), they are under your jurisdiction. Inserting this language into the Constitution only added to the right of the undocumented to be considered as citizens, for they are, along with the rest of us, "under the jurisdiction thereof," and therefore, along with the rest of us, qualify for citizenship as far as that criterion goes.
   The Fourteenth Amendment goes on to say that no state shall deprive "any person" of life, liberty, or property without due process, nor deny "any person within its jurisdiction" the equal protection of the laws. Even if you hold to the well-accepted belief that the undocumented are not to be considered citizens, this language gives them all the protections afforded citizens. Any person is any person, regardless their immigration status.
   Some argue this does not give them equal protection from the law, but only the equal protection of the law. But, I would suggest that no one -- whether they be an undocumented person or a citizen -- has protection from the law, in the sense that they are not answerable to it. So, what is your point? We all remain equal. What you probably are trying to suggest is that since the law says they can't be here, they can't be here, for there is no protection from the law. I would suggest, though, that equal means equal. If you are turning the phrase to suggest it does not mean equal protection from the law, you are wrong. It does mean that. If you are going to be equal in your protections from law, you cannot exclude the immigrant from your protections. Equal doesn't work that way. If the rest of us are protected from the passage of any law that would deport us, then so are the immigrants. "Any person" means any person.
  So, why does the Fourteenth Amendment not mean, then, that no person -- regardless of immigration status -- shall not be deprived of life in the United States, nor liberty in the United States, nor property in the United States?
   I do sometimes wonder that when we speak of the Constitution being inspired, we should consider on the the way the words of the Fourteenth Amendment fell together, despite debate that would have excluded these undocumented people. When all was set down and on paper, the much-vilified and so-called "illegal alien" remained with as much right to be here as the rest of us.
   Perhaps the working of A Divine Hand? I do not know, but I wonder.