The president was never going to win the birthright citizenship case. But what makes it, in Justice Samuel Alito’s words, “one of the most important decisions in the history of the Court” is that the ruling places the issue of membership in the national community beyond the reach of normal politics.
This is why some, such as Rachel Bovard and Daniel McCarthy, have likened the ruling to Roe v. Wade, which removed the abortion issue from the scope of lawmaking, with profound and distorting effects on our politics.
Even the Washington Post editorial board said the Court went too far in constitutionalizing virtually unrestricted citizenship at birth, supporting Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s approach of deciding the case on narrower statutory grounds and leaving the issue open to continued public debate, potentially allowing Congress to make changes in the future.
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