The 14th Amendment revisited

Nick Campbell, @nicky_charles

     President Trump, in a desperate attempt to fire up his base ahead of the midterms, has now found a new boogeyman to focus on. The caravan of migrants didn’t work, so he’s turned to the outrageous idea of repealing the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. This would impact so-called “anchor babies,” a common term used to identify children born in the United States to immigrant parents whether documented or not. To give some context, the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution was enacted as a rebuttal to the “Dred Scott” decision, or Scott v. Sandford of 1857. In this ruling, the Supreme Court determined that African slaves were not considered American citizens despite being born in America. As in so many instances in this country, blatant racism rears its ugly head to remind America of its past. Like many of Trump’s aggressions towards the Latinx/Hispanic community, not only is his policy and Executive Order rooted in xenophobia and racism, but it is also unconstitutional. It’s not surprising to find Trump is unaware of how the Constitution works, although enforcing the Constitution is the President’s sole job. Changing or eliminating an amendment of the Constitution requires two-thirds of both houses of Congress or two-thirds of the state legislatures to call for a constitutional revision. The odds of that happening are slim to none, even in today’s political climate. Attempting to use an executive order to change the Constitution shows Trump is bluffing and merely seeking to rile up his base.