'Where did he get this idea?' MAGA think tank behind 'reckless and ruthless' Trump policy

On Monday night, January 20 — his first night back in the White House — President Donald Trump signed an executive order designed to end birthright citizenship. And a long list of lawsuits quickly followed, including one from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and attorneys general in 22 different states.

The ACLU and others are arguing that Trump's executive order is blatantly unconstitutional, as birthright citizenship is protected by the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment.

ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero, in an official statement on the lawsuit, stressed, "Denying citizenship to U.S.-born children is not only unconstitutional — it's also a reckless and ruthless repudiation of American values. Birthright citizenship is part of what makes the United States the strong and dynamic nation that it is. This order seeks to repeat one of the gravest errors in American history, by creating a permanent subclass of people born in the U.S. who are denied full rights as Americans."

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In an article published by the conservative website The Bulwark on January 22, writer Philip Jaffa describes the far-right Claremont Institute as a main influence on Trump and the MAGA movement's war on birthright citizenship.

Claremont, founded in 1979, was once a traditional conservative think tank greatly influenced by the late Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Arizona). But in recent years, it has taken an ultra-MAGA turn and aggressively promoted fringe conspiracy theories.

Jaffa explains, "Let's set aside for a moment the questions of the legality and constitutionality of Trump's action and ask instead: Where did he get this idea? How did eliminating birthright citizenship become a right-wing desideratum? There is no mystery as to where this is coming from. The idea that birthright citizenship is a false interpretation or recent innovation that warps the intended meaning of the 14th Amendment has been pushed into mainstream Republican circles by the tireless work of John Eastman and the Claremont Institute."

In an article published by Claremont's website The American Thinker on January 22, Eastman — who was a major supporter of Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results — promotes the claim that birthright citizenship isn't really protected by the 14th Amendment. Eastman claims that "the 14th Amendment's Citizenship Clause does not provide automatic citizenship for everyone born on U.S. soil, no matter the circumstances."

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But countless legal scholars disagree with Eastman's views on the 14th Amendment.

Jaffa notes that in his American Thinker article, "(Eastman) lists several of the Claremont scholars who have written on birthright citizenship, and says he hopes the 'Claremont Institute's long-standing view' of the issue will soon be vindicated by the Supreme Court.' Just one problem: All the claims from MAGA and the Trumpians that the 14th Amendment was not intended to extend citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants falter when confronted with the obvious truth that the 14th Amendment, upon its adoption, did extend citizenship to a very large number of children of illegal immigrants."

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Philip Jaffa's full article for The Bulwark is available at this link.