The hill to die on. (Art: AI)
Jan. 25, 2025 by David Silverberg
President Donald Trump, as expected, is “flooding the zone” with a blizzard of executive orders as he forces the federal government and nation to do his bidding.
Of his orders, his threat to end birthright citizenship is the most dangerous, in this author’s view, because it aims to change the United States Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to anyone born on the soil or under the jurisdiction of the United States.
As opponents of the regime and lovers of democracy confront all the measures Trump is taking, protecting birthright citizenship is the issue calling for a firm, uncompromising stand and active opposition. It is, to use a political phrase, “the hill to die on.”
Anti-immigrant
Trump has been anti-immigrant from his very first speech in 2015 when he called Mexican migrants “criminals” and “rapists.” In rallies and in his first term he repeatedly compared migrants to snakes and called for “extreme, extreme vetting” to ensure that immigrants “have to be wonderful people that are going to love our country and work hard.”
When it came to birthright citizenship, “Well, we’re going to have to get it changed,” Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker in an interview on Dec. 8, before taking office. “We’ll maybe have to go back to the people. But we have to end it. We’re the only country that has it, you know.”
Trump was completely wrong: 35 countries have unrestricted birthright citizenship.
Countries that have birthright citizenship, either unrestricted or restricted. (Map: World Population Review. The full interactive map can be accessed at the linked website.)
On his first day in office, Trump signed the executive order titled, Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship.
It attempts to evade the 14th Amendment by arguing that people born to undocumented parents are ineligible for citizenship, whether they arrived without permission or overstayed visas. It orders officials not to issue or acknowledge documents recognizing US citizenship to their children.
The order was immediately blocked by Seattle, Wash., US District Judge John Coughenour.
“I’ve been on the bench for over four decades. I can’t remember another case where the question presented was as clear as this one is,” he told a federal attorney defending the order.
“This is a blatantly unconstitutional order,” Coughenour said, adding, “I have difficulty understanding how a member of the bar could state unequivocally that this is a constitutional order.”
Coughenour’s order stands for 14 days and will then be reviewed to determine whether it will stand for longer.
The likelihood is that its constitutionality will ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court.
In the House of Representatives, as soon as the executive order was issued, congressional Republicans rushed to codify it in legislation.
Rep. Brian Babin (R-2-Texas) and other Republicans announced on Thursday, Jan. 23, that they would be introducing legislation that would effectively repeal the 14th Amendment.
The 14th Amendment has been targeted since it was introduced and passed in 1868. Its intention then was to give citizenship to freed slaves. It’s been under attack ever since with repeal efforts introduced in consecutive congresses. In 2010 Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called for its repeal, saying, “Birthright citizenship doesn’t make so much sense when you understand the world as it is.”
If the 14th Amendment is repealed, it will open the door to other alterations to the Constitution, designed to permanently change the United States government from a democracy to an outright dictatorship.
A President-for-Life?
Three days into the Trump regime, Rep. Andy Ogles (R-5-Tenn.) introduced House Joint Resolution (HJRes) 29 to amend the Constitution to allow Trump a third term. As of this writing it had no co-sponsors.
The resolution is tortuously written so that it allows Trump a third term but not former President Barack Obama.
A third term was also called for by Steve Bannon, an advisor in the first Trump administration, at a Republican gala on Dec. 15.
While Ogles’ resolution doesn’t explicitly repeal the 22nd Amendment limiting presidents to two terms, that is in fact what it does. Ironically, the 22nd Amendment is a Republican one, introduced by Republicans in 1947 and ratified in 1951. In a further irony—or perhaps deliberately—it mirrors actions taken by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Both extended their own countries’ presidential terms from four years to six and then lifted term limits.
It enabled both to effectively become presidents-for-life and that is essentially what this would do for Trump.
Stopping the stampede
This is the high tide of the Trump regime. He and his people have momentum, fervor and he clearly feels a sense of invincibility.
That said, constitutional checks and balances, no matter how battered and weakened, are still in place.
Once the Trump regime begins repealing amendments, it is likely to create a momentum to completely remake the Constitution to take away basic rights and institutionalize a dictatorship.
The goal of the Trump effort is to steamroller all opposition. In the past even the most partisan presidents and legislators attempted to handle opposition as legitimate as long as it was within the bounds of the law and they at least made a show of respect for honest opinions, even from opponents.
That is not the case with this president or his regime. They are pursuing absolutism.
The battle over birthright citizenship, presidential term limits and the Constitution is being fought by officials, legislators and jurists of the three branches of government.
However, activists, civic organizations and people at the grassroots who oppose these measures have a role to play. And when they face the spectrum of threats to their freedom, they should keep changes to the Constitution uppermost in their minds as they mobilize, organize and resist authoritarianism.
Liberty lives in light
© 2025 by David Silverberg
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