Summary
Donald Trump signed an executive order to challenge birthright citizenship, targeting children of undocumented immigrants born in the U.S.
The order argues against the 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship for those born on U.S. soil.
It bars federal agencies from recognizing birthright citizenship and imposes a 30-day waiting period for enforcement.
The order is expected to face significant legal challenges, with critics calling it unconstitutional.
It’s not a guarantee, though, but it should be. If you serve for, say, 5 years and have not been dishonorably discharged, you should be automatically eligible for citizenship.
As of now, serving only exempts you from the continuous residence and physical presence requirements. You still need to be a permanent resident, know English, understand the US government and history, and demonstrate “good moral character” for at least a year out of the military.
Permanent residency shouldn’t be mandated for soldiers. They’re choosing to serve for the US - isn’t that enough? The English and US government/history requirement should be waived under the assumption that they understand all of those well enough after training and serving in the military. Good moral character really is just that you haven’t committed any serious crime which is fine.
My dad was in the air force for years, was incredibly sympathetic to immigrants and openly called for more immigration. But was hesitant to say service should guarantee citizenship.
Notably he was also very critical of Heinlein. Though he did like the bits that weren’t heavy handed political philosophy.
He thought that a direct route from service to citizenship would create a militia class of immigrants. It would be very attractive to a certain group of people who’s interests may not align with those of the US.
It was a security threat, he thought. And it seems like this attitude is shared by the DoD.
For an illustration of how this could wrong, we just need to look at the French Foreign Legion and how they attempted to assassinate De Gaule over Indochina.
I mean it makes sense, from a pragmatic point of view.