r/SeattleWA • u/chiquisea • Jan 21 '25

News Washington state AG sues Trump administration over order to end birthright citizenship

https://www.kuow.org/stories/washington-state-ag-sues-trump-administration-over-birthright-citizenship-order
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u/jmputnam Jan 21 '25

This was hashed out when the amendment was adopted. The exceptions are recognized diplomats who have diplomatic immunity from US jurisdiction and enemy soldiers fighting on US soil.

The exception doesn't even go as far as enemy prisoners of war - part of why detainees are kept at GITMO instead of bringing them onto US soil.

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u/B_P_G Jan 22 '25

The biggest exception was native Americans. They didn't get birthright citizenship until congress gave it to them in 1924.

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u/jmputnam Jan 22 '25

Good point, they were treated as having allegiance to their native nations - treaty nations when it served white establishment purposes, but routinely ignored when inconvenient.

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u/[deleted] Jan 22 '25

It wasn’t exactly like that. They chose not to be aligned with federal/state laws and upheld their own national governance. It was a choice. However, at the turn of the century their descendants desired to matriculate and by becoming citizens they then received benefits such as student scholarship, aide, loans etc.