Resolution Regarding Birthright Citizenship in the United States of America
Whereas President Donald Trump has signed an executive order declaring that the federal government of the United States will no longer recognize the birthright citizenship (jus soli) of children born in the US to undocumented migrants, and
Whereas the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America says, in part, that “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,” and
Whereas said declaration is, therefore, forbidden by the Fourteenth Amendment and also contravenes an 1898 US Supreme Court decision, US. v. Wong Kim Ark, and
Whereas the President’s declaration, by making it possible to deny citizenship to those born in the US, sets a dangerous precedent that could lead to the expulsion or exclusion of other disfavored groups, and
Whereas anti-immigration arguments are the same ones used against Jews in the early twentieth century, and
Whereas the major alternative to birthright citizenship (jus soli) is bloodline citizenship (jus sanguinis), which can be used to exclude minority ethnic and racial groups, and
Whereas thus far 22 states have sued the Trump administration over the issue of birthright citizenship and a federal judge temporarily blocked the order;
Whereas the RA has continuously and consistently advocated for the rights of immigrants in resolutions passed in 1992, 1995, 1997, 2003, 2007, 2011, and 2013;
Whereas in Judaism we are taught to “not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 23:9);
Therefore be it resolved that the Rabbinical Assembly forthrightly condemns any effort to reject or revoke the American citizenship of children born in the US, irrespective of their parents’ immigration status.
Therefore, be it further resolved that the Rabbinical Assembly calls for the protection of children born in the United States in all issues of citizenship, protecting their wellbeing, safety, education, and rights as citizens