NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — For more than a century, the United States has treated the act of being born on its soil as enough to make someone a citizen.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said that interpretation goes far beyond what the founders intended.
“I think somebody who have voted for the 14th Amendment, who would have voted to ratify it, would probably be surprised how broadly this citizenship clause has been read,” Skrmetti said in an exclusive interview for News 2. “I think they would have thought it was pretty strange thing for somebody to get American citizenship just because they happen to be here when they were born.”
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The amicus brief argues that the framers of the post-Civil War amendment never intended citizenship to apply to people merely passing through. Instead, Skrmetti said, they envisioned it for those who owed “allegiance” to the United States and made their homes within its borders…