Do you interpret the 14th Amendment to mean that babies born to aliens who are illegally present in the U.S should become citizens?: The amendment reads, in part, "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...." If my historical understanding of the 'jurisdiction' provision of this amendment is correct, that has been used to ensure that infants born to U.S. parents out of the country (as in parents on military duty, temporary job relocations, religious reasons, etc.) enjoy the benefits of U.S. citizenry. I guess one could argue that illegals here are under the jurisdiction of their home country and not the United States (except for other of our laws that they may break while here), and, therefore, their offspring born here have no claim on citizenship (not being under the jurisdiction of the U.S. as the two-part requirement states). I have not researched for any case law on such an interpretation, and a study should be made on the discussion of the time when the amendment was ratified (circa 186 to see what was intended when it was proposed.

I found this on a candidates website and thought it was interesting.