Missouri AG backs up Trump's birthright citizenship order, argues 14th Amendment has been 'perverted'
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey defended President Donald Trump's efforts to end birthright citizenship on Wednesday, arguing that the 14th Amendment clause that the policy is based on has been "perverted."
Bailey told Fox News Digital in an interview that the 14th Amendment "was never intended to be perverted into some kind of bad incentive to violate our national immigration laws." He went on to note the multiple attempts by President Biden's administration to bend or break appropriations laws, saying he fought each and every one. Trump's order ending birthright citizenship has already faced numerous legal challenges.
"Look, the 14th Amendment was drafted and ratified after the Civil War to fix the problem that an activist Supreme Court inflicted on the United States of America in the form of the Dred Scott decision," Bailey said. "Again, the 14th Amendment was indented to protect Americans like Dred Scott."
The 14th Amendment, which was ratified after the Civil War to acknowledge citizenship for former slaves and their descendants, was not used to confer birthright citizenship to illegal aliens until more than 100 years after it was adopted by Congress, according to legal expert Hans von Spakovsky of the Heritage Foundation.
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Bailey went on to defend another of Trump's controversial orders, this one pausing the flow of federal appropriations funding. Trump signed the order this week to ensure that federal agencies were in line with the new administration's policies before distributing funding.
"The president has the authority to determine the appropriation laws that are passed that appropriate funds toward items in the federal budget, but it's up to the president to then carry into effect that appropriations law," Bailey said.
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"I would ask our friends on the left, where were they when President Biden refused to build the border wall for which Congress had appropriated funds and commanded erection of new border barrier systems, period? We had to sue the Biden administration," Bailey said, noting that Missouri led the ultimately successful effort against the previous administration.
"They want to call it a constitutional crisis, but they're silent on issues like that. They're also silent on issues like when President Biden attempts to appropriate funds by himself without congressional authority. How many times did he try to take taxpayer money to try to pay off student loan debt?" Bailey added.
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Meanwhile, Trump's opponents have lined up lawsuits in an effort to block executive orders across the board. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued over the birthright citizenship order last week, arguing it was unconstitutional. Twenty-two Democrat-led states joined the ACLU in its effort.
Trump's opponents argue that of those born on U.S. soil, the text of the law precludes only the children of foreign diplomats from becoming U.S. citizens.