It’s said that unexplaining lies and irrational arguments to people who passionately desire to believe them and lack the education, experience and knowledge to grasp why the arguments are fundamentally absurd takes a magnitude of effort greater than creating them. Whether that’s true is doubtful; there is no unexplaining lies and irrational arguments to people incapable or disinterested in facts and reason, no matter what effort is mounted.

This was overwhemingly demonstrated in yesterday’s Tuesday Talk, perhaps the most disgraceful showing of ignorance and idiocy I’ve ever suffered here, and which has given me reason to put an end to TT lest Simple Justice become a cesspool of idiocy. Just as I refuse to let the woke have their way with their fantasy version of the world, I refuse to contribute to stupidity by giving space to the Trump faithful. There are other places happy to do so. Go there, not here.

Next up in the scheme of Trumpian ignorance is his Executive Order attempting to “reinvent” birthright citizenship. The text of the Fourteenth Amendment provides:

Section 1.
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.

The argument put forth is that the 14th Amendment was “intended” to address slaves, and never intended to address people here unlawfully giving birth to children who gained citizenship by birthright. While it’s accurate that the primary purpose of the 14th Amendment was to address the travesty of slavery, there was a great deal of debate and discussion about birthright citizenship, which had already been understood to be the law in the United States, and was deliberately included in this text. They knew exactly what it said, and that was exactly what they meant. This was affirmed by the Supreme Court in United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1868) and many times since. Of this, there is no argument, no matter what the renowned constitutional scholar and historian, Donald Trump, says.

It’s argued that they are not “subject to the jurisdiction there.” This is a nonsensical argument. Of course they are. If they commit a crime, they can be arrested, prosecuted and sentenced. That’s “subject to the jurisdiction.” The inclusion of the words distinguishes those who enjoy diplomatic immunity, who are not necessarily subject to the jurisdiction of the United States even though they are present on our soil. The children of diplomats do not enjoy birthright citizenship for this reason.

But the EO claims otherwise.

Among the categories of individuals born in the United States and not subject to the jurisdiction thereof, the privilege of United States citizenship does not automatically extend to persons born in the United States:  (1) when that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth, or (2) when that person’s mother’s presence in the United States at the time of said person’s birth was lawful but temporary (such as, but not limited to, visiting the United States under the auspices of the Visa Waiver Program or visiting on a student, work, or tourist visa) and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth.

You may want this to be the case. You may feel that this is the right policy. You may be outraged by the volume and nature of aliens coming across our southern border without lawful authority. But what you want has nothing to do with what the law states, and there is no question, none whatsoever, that the 14th Amendment provides that children of legal and illegal aliens born on American soil are Americans.  You don’t have to like it, but there is no argument that it is not the law.

And as Ilya Somin points out, Trump’s Executive Order is even more absurd than was anticipated.

The order doesn’t just deny birthright citizenship to children of migrants who entered the US illegally. It also denies it to children of those who entered the US on perfectly legal temporary work and tourism visas. As Reason immigration writer Fiona Harrigan explains, this will affect children of many thousands of work visa holders, including H-1B visa holders much-loved by Elon Musk, among others.

In a recent Just Security article, I critiqued the (very weak) arguments that children of undocumented immigrants aren’t entitled to birthright citizenship because they are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States. These arguments are even more absurd when it comes to children of legal visa holders. The latter and their parents are completely subject to US laws, arguably even more so than the undocumented. And the weak argument that children of undocumented immigrants don’t qualify because their parents are “invaders” is still more ridiculous when it comes to children of people who entered legally.

You’ve been told otherwise? You prefer the half-quotes, the vapid rationalizations, the explanation that will keep the offspring of those illegals from claiming American citizenship just like your li’l darlings? There is always the route of amending the Constitution, even if that opens a lot of doors that won’t make you happy at all, but what neither you nor Trump can do is manufacture a legal fantasy that is utterly and unquestionably absurd and expect it to be real.

You are no more entitled to ride unicorns prancing on MAGA rainbows than the progressives on Woke rainbows. And the fact that Trump did something unfathomably Trumpian doesn’t change the law. To suggest otherwise is absurd, and arguing about an absurdity might be something people on reddit believe to be a good use of their time, but I do not. If that’s what you want to do, have fun over there.