'I Look Forward To The Courts Rejecting It': Goldman Tears Into Anti-Birthright Citizenship Argument

2 days ago

During a House Judiciary Committee hearing prior to the congressional recess, Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) questioned opponents of birthright citizenship on their definition of national 'allegiance.'

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Transcript

00:00I'll recognize the gentleman from New York, Mr. Goldman.

00:02Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:03Mr. O'Brien, I want to go back to where you were right there.

00:08So, and I think Mr. McOtter said this as well,

00:13your interpretation is to be lawfully present in the United States with consent of the sovereign.

00:19Mr. McOtter said that's the equivalent of a lawful permanent resident.

00:23Is that correct, Mr. McOtter?

00:26That's correct, yes.

00:27And you agree, Mr. O'Brien?

00:28Yes, I do.

00:30Why is a visa holder not lawfully present in the United States with consent of the sovereign?

00:40Well, first of all, a visa holder is a person who has a permit to board a common carrier

00:46and come to the United States and request admission.

00:48A person who has been admitted to the United States by the appropriate authorities

00:53following inspection by an immigration officer is lawfully present.

00:58So someone with a visa, a work visa that could go on for years and years,

01:03you're saying is not lawfully present?

01:05No, that's not what I said at all.

01:07I said a person who has been admitted in a visa classification like H-1B, F-1,

01:13so on and so forth, is lawfully present while they're in compliance

01:17with the terms of the immigration laws.

01:19Okay, so I agree.

01:23But you're trying to restrict this to green cards.

01:26And the problem that I'm addressing here is this executive order is not restricted to green cards.

01:36It prohibits birthright citizenship if neither parent

01:42is either a lawful permanent resident or a United States citizen.

01:47Do you agree with that, Mr. O'Brien?

01:49Yes, I do.

01:50The court in Wong Kim Ark.

01:51So in Wong Kim Ark, they use the definition you just said,

01:56which would include visa holders, and yet the executive order expressly excludes visa holders.

02:05So let's move to the second point, allegiance.

02:07This is what the subject of the jurisdiction thereof

02:11that all three of you have talked about relates to allegiance.

02:16I'd love to see a clear and definitive definition of allegiance,

02:23but let's just talk about what you all were saying.

02:29Allegiance means assimilated.

02:33Is that correct, Mr. Cooper?

02:34That's one of the things that you said?

02:37I think that only a person, or at least an Indian,

02:42under the view of the framers of the citizenship clause,

02:46who had been assimilated and had left the reservation,

02:50and therefore had essentially abandoned that person's allegiance to the tribe,

02:55and had shifted their allegiance to the United States, just like others could have a child.

03:01So if you move off of a tribal reservation,

03:05and you move across the street at the time,

03:08where you're talking about originalism here,

03:10and you move across the street,

03:12then all of a sudden your allegiance has changed from the Indian tribe,

03:19the Native American tribe, to the United States.

03:21That's what you're saying.

03:22Do you disagree with that?

03:24I do disagree with that.

03:25I think the notion—

03:27Is there a time requirement?

03:30You must live off of the reservation for one year, two years, five years?

03:36No, no.

03:37There's not.

03:38So this is the problem, is you start talking about allegiance,

03:42and you're excluding green card holders.

03:45Now, green card holders, of course, are also citizens of other countries.

03:52And yet, somehow, in this definition of allegiance,

03:58that a green card holder has more allegiance to the United States

04:03than that person would, by necessity, by definition,

04:08than that person would to a foreign country.

04:12That seems like a pretty bold statement to be asking the Supreme Court to say.

04:19And what scares me about it, as an American Jew,

04:25when Jews are often accused of dual loyalty with Israel,

04:32is you're now getting into a situation where the government has to determine

04:38which country any individual has more allegiance to,

04:43the country that they have immigrated to,

04:47and even if they're a lawful permanent resident,

04:49or the country of their citizenship.

04:53And it baffles me that the Republican Party, the party of small government,

04:59the party of federalism and states' rights,

05:02would sit here and say, yes, it is the government's job

05:07to create a definition of allegiance,

05:11which somehow is required in order for birthright citizenship.

05:17Now, look, Mr. Biggs, and you may not like the example,

05:21birthright tourism, you call it, of someone coming into the United States,

05:25having a baby, and then leaving.

05:27If you don't agree with that, that's fine.

05:31Pass a constitutional amendment.

05:33Because this is clear, and this definition that you're providing

05:37is unbelievably vague and very, very careless,

05:41and I look forward to the courts rejecting it.

05:44Thank you. I yield back.

05:45Thank you, gentleman from New York.

05:48As individuals who recite the Pledge of Allegiance

05:51down on the floor of the House of Representatives,

05:54every time we open the House,

05:55I think those of us understand what allegiance is,

05:56particularly the gentleman from Texas

05:58who wore the uniform of our armed forces.

06:00I think he's fully aware.

'I Look Forward To The Courts Rejecting It': Goldman Tears Into Anti-Birthright Citizenship Argument

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