What does it mean to be an American citizen? Not what does it mean on paper — what does it actually mean? Because for decades now, a loose modern reading of one constitutional clause has allowed the very concept of citizenship to be cheapened. Birth tourism operators run it like a business. Illegal border crossers treat it like a bonus. And the legal establishment? They defend the whole arrangement with the kind of reverence usually reserved for scripture.

Now the Supreme Court holds the answer. A landmark case before the justices could restore the original understanding of the 14th Amendment — an understanding that’s been bent well past the breaking point. And President Trump is making dead sure the Court understands the stakes.

From The Post Millennial:

President Donald Trump on Thursday urged the Supreme Court to “do what’s right” in relation to the forthcoming birthright citizenship case ruling from the high court. The case, argued before the court in April, centers around Trump’s day-one executive order ending birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants and others who are not lawful permanent residents.

He told reporters that birthright citizenship “was not meant for Chinese billionaires who have their children become citizens of our country, … this was meant for the babies of slaves. This was signed during right after the Civil War. You look at the dates, the dates alone, immediately after. This was having to do with the babies of slaves, and people have used it—and if this is allowed to stand, it will be a disaster economically for our country, and you’ll have 25 people of the people coming into our country coming in through birthright citizenship, and we won’t have any control.”

He’s not mincing words. Good. The 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868 for one sacred purpose: guaranteeing citizenship to freed slaves and their children, whose bond to this nation was forged through generations of life on its soil. It was a promise to right an historic wrong. It was never an open-ended invitation to the planet.

A case decades in the making

When oral arguments were heard in April, Trump showed up in person — the first sitting president ever to attend Supreme Court proceedings. That alone tells you how much weight he’s putting behind this fight.

He wasn’t the only one making sense that day. Justice Samuel Alito offered a pointed observation: illegal immigration “was basically unknown” when the 14th Amendment was adopted. Simple? Sure. But it cuts right through the opposition’s argument. The framers of that amendment never envisioned — let alone blessed — a system where foreign nationals could exploit it as an automatic ticket to citizenship for their newborns.

Leave it to a Supreme Court justice to say out loud what most Americans already know.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer pressed the point further, telling the justices that an “unrestricted” reading of birthright citizenship has become a direct “pull factor for illegal immigration” — one that effectively rewards people for breaking the law.

A system built to be gamed

The scale of the abuse is staggering. Sauer informed the Court that roughly 500 birth tourism companies operate in China alone. Russian elites fly into Miami through similar outfits. The whole thing is an industry — organized, profitable, and growing. As Sauer put it bluntly, “8 billion people are one plane ride away from having a child who is a U.S. citizen.”

Let that sink in.

Trump warned that 20 to 25 percent of people entering the country could ultimately gain entry through birthright citizenship, at costs he called economically devastating. “We’re a laughingstock,” the President said, arguing that no other country handles citizenship so recklessly.

Courage or caution?

Some justices, including Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Gorsuch, appeared hesitant during April’s arguments. Roberts called the administration’s legal framework “very quirky.” That kind of hedging is nothing new from the bench. Courts have a long tradition of choosing the comfortable path over the necessary one.

Trump clearly sees the pattern. “They’ll probably rule against me because they seem to like doing that,” he said. But he didn’t flinch. “It would be a disgrace” if the Court strikes down his executive order, he added, urging the justices once more to “do what’s right.”

The 14th Amendment was written to fulfill a promise to freed slaves. Not to create a loophole for birth tourism companies. Not to reward illegal border crossings. Not to hand citizenship to children of people with zero allegiance to this country. If citizenship can be acquired through nothing more than a GPS coordinate at the moment of birth, it stops meaning anything at all.

The Supreme Court has a chance to fix that. Whether they take it will say everything.

Key Takeaways

• Trump is urging the Supreme Court to uphold his executive order ending birthright citizenship.
• The 14th Amendment was designed for freed slaves, not modern birth tourism.
• Hundreds of foreign birth tourism companies actively exploit the current system.
• The Court’s upcoming ruling will define American citizenship for generations.

Sources: The Post Millennial, ABC7 New York