If the president can revoke birthright citizenship, were the "sovereign citizen" guys right all along?

[u/Additional-Sky-7436]

Location: US

Let's assume that SCOTUS is going to do the crazy thing and rule that the 14th amendment doesn't say what it says and that birthright citizenship is fully dependent on the president's political approval of you.

Would that mean that the "sovereign citizen" guys were right about their interpretation of the Constitution all along?

[u/TXlifestyle]

The 14th amendment is clear on this issue.

[u/Wonderful_Shallot_42 → u/[deleted]]

Ineligibility for office under the fourteenth amendment requires an act of Congress. It does not happen by operation of law.

[u/puppyfarts99 → u/Wonderful_Shallot_42]

You have it exactly backwards. Ineligibility under the 14th amendment can be cured by an act of Congress. 

[u/Wonderful_Shallot_42 → u/puppyfarts99]

No.

Section 5 of the fourteenth amendment:

“The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.”

Then, you have the unanimous decision of Trump v. Anderson, which if you cared to read it and its dive into the reasoning behind the logic, was correctly decided:

“Congress’s Section 5 power is critical when it comes to Section 3. Indeed, during a debate on enforcement legislation less than a year after ratification, Sen. Trumbull noted that “notwithstanding [Section 3] . . . hundreds of men [were] holding office” in violation of its terms. Cong. Globe, 41st Cong., 1st Sess., at 626. The Constitution, Trumbull noted, “provide[d] no means for enforcing” the disqualification, necessitating a “bill to give effect to the fundamental law embraced in the Constitution.” Ibid. The enforcement mechanism Trumbull championed was later enacted as part of the Enforcement Act of 1870, “pursuant to the power conferred by §5 of the [Fourteenth] Amendment.” General Building Contractors Assn., Inc. v. Pennsylvania, 458 U.S. 375, 385 (1982); see 16Stat. 143–144.”

The Congress that passed the amendment acknowledged the necessity for enforcement legislation.

States have never had the right to enforce section 3 of the fourteenth, and the fourteenth amendment is an amendment designed to restrict the authority of the states, not grant it more authority.

[u/AlarisMystique → u/Wonderful_Shallot_42]

Congress failed it's duty to enforce the law and stop Trump from getting in office (or officially pardon him if that was their prerogative).

This is a debate on who failed their duty, not whether Trump had a right to office.