53 upvotes, 2 direct replies (showing 2)
The (IMO, specious) legal argument is that, if the 14th Amendment indeed excluded Native Americans--evidenced by that 1924 law as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1866--then its language ("All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside") can't be read literally, and instead needs to be read with the intent of the drafters in mind. The goal is to exclude children of foreign nationals born in the U.S. from citizenship, not Native Americans.
Comment by 0002millertime at 24/01/2025 at 14:45 UTC
61 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Except that the non-citizen Native Americans were specifically not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States when the 14th Amendment was passed. They had no obligation or expectation to follow US laws or pay taxes of any kind (unless specified in treaties) even within the borders of the US (where they were free to travel). They were treated as belonging to different nations that happened to sit on US land. Even when given US citizenship, they were considered dual citizens.
Comment by pgm123 at 24/01/2025 at 15:03 UTC
26 upvotes, 1 direct replies
then its language ("All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside") can't be read literally, and instead needs to be read with the intent of the drafters in mind.
While true, we have the Congressional debates. One of the opponents of the amendment asked that surely the drafters couldn't consider this to apply to natural-born children of Chinese immigrants as Chinese immigrants were barred from naturalization and thus couldn't become citizens. One of the drafters said that *no, this includes children of Chinese immigrants* and as far as that person was concerned, they were always natural-born citizens and this amendment merely clarified that status. The intent is clearer than the text.