A Message to We the People of the United States of America
For generations, Americans have argued about the meaning of the words, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” Entire political movements have been built around those words.
Presidents have spoken about them. Courts have interpreted them. Scholars have written volumes concerning them. Citizens have debated them around dinner tables, in classrooms, churches, community centers, and throughout the public square.
Today, the controversy has reached the highest levels of government.
Yet amid all the debate, lawsuits, political campaigns, and passionate opinions, one simple question has received far less attention than it perhaps deserves.
What if America has been asking the wrong constitutional question?
Not the wrong answer. The wrong question.
For history teaches that some of the greatest mistakes are made not when people arrive at the wrong conclusion, but when they begin with the wrong premise.
And if the premise is wrong, then every argument built upon it must eventually be reexamined.
The Question Before the Question
Most Americans have been taught to focus their attention upon three words: “All persons born…”
Those three words have become the center of a national argument concerning citizenship, immigration, identity, and the future of the Republic.
But before asking what those words mean, should we not first ask why they were written?
Should we not first ask what circumstances gave rise to them?
Should we not first ask what problem the Nation was attempting to solve?
The Fourteenth Amendment did not suddenly appear from nowhere. It emerged from one of the most painful periods in American history.
It followed a Civil War that cost hundreds of thousands of lives. It followed emancipation. It followed the destruction of slavery.
It followed congressional efforts to secure the rights of newly freed people. It followed the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
These events were/are not isolated chapters. They were/are part of a single story.
And before America reaches new conclusions concerning citizenship, perhaps that story deserves to be read again from the beginning.
Why This Matters to Every American
Some people believe this debate concerns only immigrants.
Others believe it concerns only lawyers.
Others assume it concerns only politicians and judges.
In truth, it concerns every American, US citizen. We the People
Citizenship is not merely a legal category. Citizenship is part of the constitutional identity of the Nation itself.
It affects how Americans understand their history, responsibilities, rights, and future together.
Whether one is conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat, rich or poor, native-born or naturalized, every citizen has a stake in ensuring that constitutional questions of this magnitude are approached with care.
The larger the question, the greater the responsibility to get it right.
Before Judgment Comes Understanding
America now stands at a remarkable moment in its history.
As the Nation approaches the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, questions once thought settled have returned to the public square. Citizenship, immigration, constitutional identity, and the unfinished legacy of Reconstruction are once again being debated.
Many Americans – We the People want immediate answers. Many want immediate action.
Yet there are moments when wisdom requires something different.
There are moments when a Nation must slow down long enough to ask whether it has overlooked something important.
A pause is not weakness. A pause is not surrender. A pause is not indecision.
Sometimes a pause is the highest form of responsibility.
Sometimes, a pause is how mistakes are prevented.
Sometimes a pause allows truth to catch up with assumptions.
That is the purpose of the proposed Constitutional Moratorium.
Not to prevent judgment. But to ensure that judgment rests upon the strongest possible foundation.
The Court of Ultimate Public Opinion
The Supreme Court may issue decisions. Congress may enact laws. Presidents may sign orders. Yet the American Republic ultimately depends upon the confidence and understanding of We the People.
A free people should never fear inquiry. A confident nation should never fear examination. And truth should never fear investigation.
The American people deserve the opportunity to understand the constitutional foundations of questions that may affect generations yet unborn.
They deserve the opportunity to examine the history, laws, arguments, and consequences before reaching permanent conclusions.
That is not a radical idea. It is the essence of self-government.
Before The Judgment
The question before America is not whether judgment shall come.
The question is whether judgment should come before the foundation itself has been fully examined.
If the prevailing understanding is correct, examination will strengthen it.
If the prevailing understanding is incomplete, examination may improve it.
If the prevailing understanding rests upon a mistaken premise, examination may prevent a historic error.
The Declaration of Independence left questions for future Americans to answer.
The Civil War generation left unfinished work for future Americans to complete.
The Reconstruction generation left a constitutional legacy that continues to shape the Nation today.
Perhaps the greatest service Americans-We the People can perform for one another at this historic moment is to ensure that the right question is being asked before the final answer is given.
For before judgment comes understanding. And before understanding comes the courage to ask:
What if America has been asking the wrong constitutional question?