In Order To Preserve U.S. Citizenship, Republicans Destroy What It Means

on Jan 23, 2025

SAN DIEGO -- Well, this is revealing. The Republican Party has no clothes. Due to a splattering of executive orders by President Donald Trump, conservatives are totally exposed. Everyone can finally see who they really are as opposed to who they pretend to be.

The first hint came this week when Trump issued a blanket pardon for more than 1,500 rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. That includes the 169 people who pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers. So much for the lie of being pro-cop.

Since the early 1970s, Republicans have -- for purely political reasons -- portrayed themselves as folks who "back the blue." They claim to be the best friends of law enforcement. Well, with friends like these, who needs enemies?

Now, thanks to Trump, we see Republicans in full. They pretend they're tough on criminals. But they're selectively tough. If you're a Black teenager who commits a low-level street crime or an undocumented Latino migrant from what Trump calls a "shit-hole" country, they'll throw the book at you. But if you're a white Republican who tries to overturn an election because you want to get America back to a time when things always went your way, you can expect leniency.

In their modern incarnation, Republicans are mere outlaws, thugs and hooligans. This is a party that rewards lawlessness, stokes anarchy and condones violence against police officers.

Trump was also helpful in exposing what Republicans really think about immigration.

I've written about the topic for 35 years. For all that time, the idea of birthright citizenship -- i.e., the requirement that anyone born on U.S. soil is a U.S. citizen, even if their parents are undocumented -- has been a sore spot for conservatives.

Those on the right hate the fact that the 14th Amendment confers U.S. citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof." Naturally, the children of the undocumented are subject to U.S. jurisdiction.

So, on his first day in office, Trump issued an executive order declaring that the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants will no longer be granted automatic U.S. citizenship.

Not so fast. The attorneys general of 22 states, and a handful of civil rights groups, have sued the Trump administration in defense of birthright citizenship. And unlike the lawyers who must have advised Trump, it appears that when these folks were in law school, they did not sleep through the lectures on constitutional law.

Neither did the federal judge in Seattle who, on Thursday, blocked the executive order, calling it "blatantly unconstitutional." U.S. District Judge John Coughenour issued a temporary restraining order preventing the administration from making the change.

Nevertheless, Republicans are ecstatic. They got what they wanted. Of course, there was a cost. And it was steep. Striking down birthright citizenship required conservatives to abandon four principles that, we have repeatedly been told, the Republican Party holds dear.

It is difficult to figure out what the Republican Party is these days. But thanks to decrees by a Republican president, the American people have now been shown what it is NOT.

The GOP is not a party that puts a premium on family values, or it wouldn't be trying to find a way to deport mixed status families.

The GOP is not a party that favors a strict constructionist reading of the Constitution, or it wouldn't tinker with the 14th Amendment.

The GOP is not a party that values U.S. citizenship, or it wouldn't be so cavalier about stripping it away.

And finally, the GOP is not a party that supports those who are in this country legally, or it would show deference to those who are.

The purge doesn't come at a good time. The Republican Party is winning elections, but it has lost its way.

Does it support H-1B visas that bring in hi-tech workers from around the globe, or does it oppose them as unfair to less-qualified American workers? Does it want to allow TikTok to operate in the United States, or honor a ban that Congress imposed on the popular social media site? Does it support Trump's plan for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, or does it share the concerns of businesses that losing their workers could put them out of business?

No one knows the answers to these questions. And sometimes the answers change. What day is it?

Make no mistake. For America, it's a dark one.

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To find out more about Ruben Navarrette and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.