The Absurd End Result If Birth Right Citizenship Is Abolished! None of us are citizens, except

 Melania Trump and Elon Musk because they are naturalized citizens. And yes I know that purported executive excrement only applies to the future but...it is after all the great 21st C post-truth era. So let's have fun.

The Actual 14th Amendment:

Section 1

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Now, although the Constitution mentions citizens a number of times in reference to their rights, this is the only place that I see where citizenship is defined. So if the 14th Amendment were taken away?

Well, let's work this backward. I am an American citizen because I was born here. My parents were American citizens because they were born here. Three of my grandparents were American citizens because they were born here (one grandfather was a German immigrant). Now, six of my great grandparents were immigrants and of course two never came to the country. As far as I know none of the immigrants became naturalized citizens. So?

So if birthright citizenship didn't exist how would we define who is a citizen? My great-grandparents weren't so if the 14th was gone, my grandparents wouldn't be citizens either. And if my grandparents were citizens, my parents wouldn't be either...and then I wouldn't be either nor most of you. We are only citizens because the 14th Amendment says we are citizens if we are born here. There are no ancillary clauses, nor any ifs, ands, or buts.

It does seem rather odd that the original Constitution doesn't define citizen.

BTW: it still seems odd that the MAGA group wants to deny birthright citizenship while requiring your birth certificate to register to vote under the SAVE act. Hey, kids, which way does it work?

BTW II: There is often a splitting of hairs around citizen and resident. Citizen is generally regarded as a the status of an American...while resident is the status for describing ones residence in a state. Doesn't the 14th above seem to indicate that one would be a citizen of the US and the citizen of the state where you reside? Not really important but interesting...