George F. Will - An argument to be made about immigrant babies and citizenship

George F. Will - An argument to be made about immigrant babies and citizenship:

A simple reform would drain some scalding steam from immigration arguments that may soon again be at a roiling boil. It would bring the interpretation of the 14th Amendment into conformity with what the authors of its text intended, and with common sense, thereby removing an incentive for illegal immigration.

To end the practice of 'birthright citizenship,' all that is required is to correct the misinterpretation of that amendment's first sentence: '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.' From these words has flowed the practice of conferring citizenship on children born here to illegal immigrants."