Jack of Harts

The Fourteenth Amendment declared that anyone born in the United States or naturalized in it is a citizen of the United States, and that no State can take away their rights as a citizen without due process, nor deny them equal protection of the law. This was written to stop certain States from declaring former slaves to not be citizens, and therefore not eligible to vote. An interesting tidbit is that there is a “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” clause in that Amendment. If someone is subject to another jurisdiction, or a subject of another nation, are they a citizen of the United States? Many say no. Those who ignore this clause generally support birthright citizenship to children of foreign nationals born in the United States.