Earlier this week, I delivered a speech on the Senate floor to express my strong support for birthright citizenship guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.

President-elect Trump has said that he plans to end birthright citizenship on the first day of his term. As a former constitutional law professor and civil rights lawyer, I feel the need to share my thoughts on this critical issue — starting with an important question: Who is a citizen of the United States?

First, let’s clear something up: The Constitution enshrines that if you are born in the United States or naturalized by law, you are a U.S. citizen so long as you are subject to the jurisdiction of this country. 

Birthright citizenship was added to our Constitution with the passage of the 14th Amendment after the Civil War. It was meant to correct the Supreme Court’s 1857 Dred Scott decision, a ruling that held that African Americans, even those born free in the United States, could never be American citizens. 

The Fourteenth Amendment was purchased by the blood sacrifice of the legions who died in slavery and during the Civil War.

Second, the President-elect’s claim that only the U.S. recognizes birthright citizenship is either totally ignorant or willfully deceptive. Thirty-three nations, including Canada and Mexico, grant citizenship to ALL born within their borders. The U.S. is not alone in embracing birthright citizenship — indeed, we’ve led a large and successful global movement to embrace it. 

In this and all issues, we must remember that the U.S. presidency is not a dictatorship. And as long as I’m in the Senate, I’ll do everything in my power to block our next President from assaulting our Constitution in this way. 

Birthright citizenship has bestowed so many benefits on our nation, including the countless Americans born to immigrant parents who have made extraordinary and meaningful contributions to our country. 

If you agree that birthright citizenship should remain the law of the land as outlined by our Constitution, please add your name to my petition today — and if you have a story about the benefits bestowed on us by Americans born to immigrant parents, please share it with me.

Anyone who wants to reverse or curtail birthright citizenship is acting directly contrary to the plain meaning of the Constitution — and is attempting to move the U.S. back to a pre-civil war mentality where certain kinds of people are viewed as subordinate and unequal because of their parents' status or ancestry. 

I won’t accept that, and I hope you won’t either.

Thank you for standing with me — and for the Constitution. 

Tim Kaine 

Paid for by Kaine for Virginia

1490-5A Quarterpath Road #272

Williamsburg, VA 23185

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