Dear Editor:
In the school year 1985-1986, I had retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy as my constitutional law professor in law school. I had him three hours a week for a school year and got to know about his legal philosophy quite well.
I believe I know why President Trump waited until Kennedy was off of the Supreme Court to bring up this issue about birth right citizenship. It was apparent to a few of us in class that Kennedy was not a constitutional originalist such as, say, Scalia was. Some of Kennedy’s votes on certain cases when he was on the Supreme Court made this clear.
Justice Kavanaugh is apparently an originalist, much as Scalia was. The U.S. Supreme Court has never ruled on the birth right citizenship issue. I believe Kennedy may have stated it was a right even if the parents were illegal immigrants. It is safe to assume that a constitutional originalist would not agree with this and would state that children of illegal aliens are not automatically citizens just because they happen to be born in this country. The constitutional text in this issue is not that plain. An originalist would consult the arguments that were made when the amendment was written. The real problem that the lunatic left had with Kavanaugh was he was an originalist.
By saying that he is issuing an executive order clarifying this part of the 14th Amendment and stating that illegal alien’s children born in this country are not automatically citizens, President Trump has assured us that this issue will be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court in an expeditious manner.
Dr. W. David Herbert ESQ
Billings
