Today, Folarin Balogun secured a spot on the American soccer team for the World Cup...for a second time.That may be the most positive spin I can offer to those upset by today's 5-4 decision in favor of birthright citizenship.Balogun, one of the stars on our team, was born to Nigerian parents visiting the United States and then raised in England.According to the Supreme Court, he is — and was always intended to be — a citizen under the Fourteenth Amendment.SUPREME COURT RULES ON MAIL-IN BALLOTS RECEIVED AFTER ELECTION DAYIt is a conclusion that divided the court 5-4, but, as in soccer, a one-point win is as good as a nine-point win.Roberts wrote for the majority that "The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to 'every free-born person in this land.' We keep that promise today."The victory for birthright citizenship was due to the joining of Chief Justice John Roberts (who authored the decision) and Justice Amy Coney Barrett with the three liberal justices.
They found the language and history of the amendment to be clear and, relying on prior rulings dating back decades, concluded that birth alone in this country is enough to confer citizenship — even if born to a tourist or someone briefly on our soil.It is a view that is rejected by the vast majority of countries, which rightfully view birthright citizenship as bonkers, including some which followed the practice and then rescinded it.The United States remains one of the outliers in maintaining this ill-considered practice.Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a dissent, joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch, effectively arguing that this is the invention of the Court, which refused to reconsider its lazy prior analysis.
That included the Court's 1898 ruling in United States v.Wong Kim Ark, which expanded birthright citizenship beyond what the Reconstruction Congress had ever "contemplated." He noted that the Court could have resolved the case on narrower grounds consistent with the 14th Amendment: "Wo...