There’s been a lot of chatter about birthright citizenship this week after Donald Trump suggested he would end the 150-year-old policy by signing an executive order.
The policy is part of the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, written in 1868, that states:
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.
“It was always told to me that you needed a constitutional amendment. Guess what? You don’t,” Trump said. “I can do it just with an executive order.”
(For the record: This isn’t true. The president cannot alter, rewrite, or amend any part of the United States Constitution with the stroke of a pen.)
How about we take this to the next level?
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Related: Shep Smith takes another swipe at Trump on live TV and Fox News viewers are freaking the F out
Yesterday, Perez Hilton decided to weigh in on the debate. Because if there’s one thing the world needs, it’s the political pontifications of an internet bully.
On Tuesday, Hilton tweeted:
I don’t agree with Donald Trump on many things, but I DO think that if a child is born in America to parents who are here illegally that they should not be granted automatic citizenship. And I say this as a liberal and Latina! https://t.co/AcLNjB9C37
— Perez (@ThePerezHilton) October 30, 2018
Needless to say, the tweet didn’t go over so well:
it’s nice to be reminded every once in a while that Perez Hilton is horrible
— Boo Wave ?? (@chriscesq) October 30, 2018
How is it that Perez Hilton sees any difference in the way that he and I were born US citizens to Cuban parents and any other child born to immigrants? That he wants to deny future generations the rights he’s so enjoyed because of an arbitrary cut-off date? Shameful
— Monica Castillo ??? (@mcastimovies) October 31, 2018
I didn’t know we were still checking for Perez Hilton. I thought he faded away with the hype of ARTPOP.
— ???? original batty mon ? (@snacktavist) October 31, 2018
can y’all believe it’s 2018 & perez hilton is still around being useless
— jess ?? (@ntmcknnn) October 31, 2018
Personally, I’d been waiting to decide how I felt about the issue until Perez Hilton weighed in. I kept asking myself, but what does Perez Hilton think about all this?
— Scary Version of Professor Handsome ???? (@SethWmJohnson) October 30, 2018
But it didn’t stop there…
Looks like you’re still a POS, @PerezHilton. People never change. pic.twitter.com/uuri8abS1i
— Nice Try, Carol (@nicetrycarol) October 31, 2018
perez hilton is the fuckin textbook definition of a white gay pic.twitter.com/jHg8cueZap
— robb? (@robbxx2) October 31, 2018
You know what? I say this with a clear conscience: I hope Perez Hilton burns in hell. I hope he has the most brutal year imaginable. A white Latino man tweeting that shit about our suffering hermanxs? Fuck you and your privilege. You are condemning these people to so much pain.
— pitaya princesa ?? (@corietweets2u) October 31, 2018
Perez Hilton tried to be a Latinx liberal while flexing his white privilege at the same damn time. Whew Chile. Y’all be really into these weirdos. pic.twitter.com/bhhWRK0ufj
— The Melanalien Creator ?? (@Poetrygrl_) October 30, 2018
And Perez Hilton goes from being someone to ignore, to someone dangerous with a substantial following who becomes a part of the disinformation mechanism.
— Randall Leonard (@RandallLeonar11) October 30, 2018
This has to be our favorite one…
It’s come to my attention that some of y’all still pay attention to Perez Hilton… yuck
— scarego (@airuhgo) October 30, 2018
After receiving nothing but backlash, Hilton released a seven-and-a-half minute video, further defending his position.
“I am not of the school of thought that I have to disagree with everything that Donald Trump says,” he said.
Blogger Yara Simón over at REMEZCLA explains why Hilton’s stance is so problematic:
While Hilton–aka Mario Lavandeiro–is the son of immigrants, his family doesn’t have the typical immigrant experience. Because they came from Cuba, the US government put his family on the path of citizenship through the now terminated wet-foot, dry-foot policy that allowed those from the Caribbean island to pursue residency a year after their arrival.
Even as immigration laws tightened, the government granted Cubans (who made the very dangerous journey by sea) this protection, which helped them start their lives in a new country without fear of deportation. However, for many other immigrants also fleeing poverty, violence, and oppression, they make the also treacherous journey to the US, and they often have no way to adjust their status.
Related: Lindsey Graham wants to be Trump’s presidential b*tch, praises his stance on birthright citizenship
radiooutmike
He most certainly is not a proud latina; if he does not like the idea of undocumented immigrants trying to make a better life for themselves and their kin.
gymmuscleboy
Some Latina respect rule of law, as should we. They are still proud and can still try to make a better life for themselves. What about all those who came here legally?
jakejacob
Perezita is right for once. You don’t reward illegals for breaking the law.
nunya
“subject to the jurisdiction thereof” is the important clause.
“…there is one area of solid agreement among advocates on all sides of the debate: In the least, children born to foreign diplomats are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and are therefore not to be granted U.S. citizenship.”2
If the children of ambassadors to the US who are born on US soil are not given US citizenship, why should the children of illegals be granted citizenship simply because they were born here? Why should anyone without at least one natural or naturalized US citizen parent be granted US citizenship? The 14th Amendment needs to be changed and clarified.
2 See, e.g., Linda Chavez, The Case For Birthright Citizenship, Wall Street Journal, August 11, 2010
PinkoOfTheGange
Never heard of diplomatic immunity?
That means that the US has no jurisdiction over the diplomat, and their minor children’s, criminal behavior unless explicitly granted by their home nation.
To extend the simile, the undocumented immigrant would be immune from prosecution from any crime.
calpoidog
Unless all you gay boys are going to start having kids, and lots of ’em, we need immigrants to grow this country.
If you want someone paying taxes so that you get your social security check (20% of of folks >65 SOLELY rely on social security for their income) you should be advocating for more immigrants. US birth rates are at historic lows, the standard of living is up in other countries and coupled with the political climate here most “Norwegians” aren’t pounding on our doors anymore.
gymmuscleboy
@calpoidog If we want to increase the population of our country, it would be better to do so in a civilised manner – by selecting the best and brightest from around the world – rather than automatically granting citizenship to the children of criminals. Carefully selected migrants will serve your economic argument much better, and make for a better society too.
Juanjo
This is probably not going to comprehensible to you but here goes. A diplomat is the legal representative of a foreign country, i.e., that diplomat is the legal and physical embodiment of a foreign power in our country. As such, he is not subject to the jurisdiction of US law. A diplomat could shoot a man to death in Times Square at noon and cannot be arrested, detained, or prosecuted. The only thing the US could do is declare him persona non grata and have him leave the country. If you think I am bullshitting you, look up the history of BongBong Marcos, son of Ferdinand Marcos. He stabbed a man in a disco once while he was in the US back in the 1970s. Bongbong was mad when the man objected to him trying to separate the man from his girlfriend on the dance floor. Bongbong had a diplomatic passport.
So a diplomat is not under the jurisdiction of the United States. An illegal alien is under the jurisdiction of the United States. An illegal alien can be arrested, tried, and imprisoned for breaking the laws of the United States or any individual state. Birthright citizenship is an ancient bit of Anglo-Saxon law which flows from the concept that all those residing within the Realm are under the jurisdiction of the Realm unless the person is in the service of a foreign sovereign and is present in the Realm on that sovereign’s business. All those born in the Realm are subjects of the Realm unless born to one who is in service to a foreign sovereign and present in the Realm upon the business of the foreign sovereign. The legal concept is called Jus Solis.
This has been the law of the United States from the moment it came into existence. In fact, some of the earliest legal cases after the establishment of the country relate to disputes over the land of loyalists after the withdrawal of British forces and the peace treaty, Jay’s Treaty. There were loyalist colonists who served in the British forces or who fled during the fighting. After the fighting, people who supported the Revolution sought to steal the property belonging to loyalists. The issues involved were whether they were born in the colony or not, when they left and/or returned, and whether during or after the Revolution they re-affirmed their oath of Alliegance to the Crown.
Juanjo
gymmuscleboy – that’s a lovely bit of sophistry. BTW if we did that then we would have to deport Trump. His grandfather was a pimp and managed an illegal gambling hall after arriving here. He was deported after a criminal conviction. He snuck back in and spawned Trump’s father.
gymmuscleboy
@Juanjo False – Trump’s grandfather was deported from Germany, not the US. And I would be keen to hear your argument, if you have one.
Vince
I’m in total agreement with him. We need to end the anchor babies and fake marriages to get citizenship.
PinkoOfTheGange
Then get to work and amend the CotUS.
calpoidog
A fraudulent marriage is already against the law and your citizenship will be revoked if your marriage is found to be fraudulent and “anchor babies” only get the baby themselves citizenship…Next?
DarkZephyr
This is a “need” that we have, is it? Its just this fundamental “need”?
gymmuscleboy
@DarkZephyr It is a justified need. The United States would be better served by carefully selecting immigrants to meet our economic and social objectives. By contrast, we have no control over the outcome if we instead grant citizenship to any foreign criminals and their children. There is an abundance of people who wish to immigrate to the US legally.
Lacuevaman
who gives a f*ck who or what you are “in total agreement” with. you can’t tell your ass from a hole in the ground. ignorant fool. be gone,
Virpilosus
Always thought, and now confirmed, that Perez Hilton is a total DOUCHEBAG.
Lacuevaman
trash will be trash, ignorance will be ignorant. and in some cases, “has been” never was.
dean089
How is this person still relevant?
Terrycloth
Cue Chris Crocker video…
“Leave Perez Alone ! “… does Perez ever think before he speaks ?
phtdesign
gurl please who cares what she thinks EXCEPT she should be ashamed!!!
Bob LaBlah
I would have preferred a Davey Wavey video to this.
nitejonboy
Oh Perez, so sad.
surreal33
Latina no, you are an insult to real Latinas. Self-loathing, SCUMBAG, yes all day everyday.
SnakeyJ
Why is this topic so contentious? Even Canada is rethinking automatic birthright. These laws were made when immigration laws were different, or even non existing and the countries were trying to get a population to grow. Also, back then, it took months to get across the ocean to get the North America, now anyone can hop a plane in their 3rd trimester and birth a baby in the US just to get citizenship. The term “illegal immigration” is a bit misleading as well. Immigration is legal. The people these laws are targeting are not immigrants, they are illegal aliens breaking the law.
JamJewel
You’ve been watching FAKE NEWS!
Quebec is contemplating laws on immigrants who don’t speak French and/or receive state benefits but if that ever happens, the folks affected can just move to another province without fear of deportation.
This shit has been running around Facebook all week starting with a news outlet in Jakarta, repeated word-for-word by every bullshit outlet in America and around the world.
SnakeyJ
@JamJewel. Please do a little bit of research. It’s not a new discussion in Canada. Type “Canada” and “Birth Tourism” and you will see an article as early as Aug 2018.
QueerTruth
SHUT UP, PEREZ. As a NON-HUMAN, it doesn’t matter what you say…
JamJewel
He gives credence to the lie [ala George Zimmerman said] that Hispanics/Latinos can’t be racist!
o.codone
The problem is, Trump is going to get his way. And then, undoing what he did is going to be impossible.
jakejacob
Whether you like it or not, Trump just keeps on winning and winning.
Alton
No, he’s not.
Keebler ILF
Is it true that when Ivana Trump gave birth to Don Jr. and Eric that she was not yet an American citizen? So Trump’s two sons would have to be deported.
Alton
It’s beyond tedious to see people in the United States, 98% of whom are the product of immigrants, whinge and whine about who should and who shouldn’t be allowed to claim citizenship.
This country was literally FOUNDED by illegal immigrants. None of our forefathers had any right to be here. But they came anyway and they killed and marginalized the actual citizens of the land. You’ve enjoyed the fruits of their genocide for generations. So just shut the hell up about how much your butthole hurts when you think about illegals coming here to have kids, you big, cowardly, infantile morons.
gymmuscleboy
@Alton So if 300 million Chinese announced they were going to immigrate by force to the US tomorrow, you wouldn’t have a problem with that because “This country was literally FOUNDED by illegal immigrants. None of our forefathers had any right to be here.”? I don’t think so. This is your home, Alton. Stand up for yourself and your country.
Brian
I saw Perez at a concert in Hollywood last week. He was standing on the sidewalk in front of the theater, playing on his phone, taking selfies, the works, for about 15 minutes. In that time, not a single person acknowledged him or talked to him. I think the world is over Perez Hilton.
Talltom@45
Real news flash for all of you queens who drank the politically correct liberal Kool-Aid: a lot of your fellow queers support President Trump but are afraid to be open about it because ya’ll are such nasty, free speech squashing aholes.
frankcar1965
He has an very ugly face and an very ugly attitude.