Bruce Lesley is incensed at one dimension of the debate about birthright citizenship that he says is being completely overlooked. “It’s in the words: ‘birth’ right citizenship — this is about babies.”
Lesley is the president of First Focus on Children, a bipartisan advocacy group for children and families, which submitted an amicus brief for the case Trump v. Barbara to be argued Wednesday, April 1, before the Supreme Court.
During debate on the potential end to birthright citizenship in recent congressional hearings, Lesley heard about administrative challenges, historical context and political allegiance. “The word ‘child’ does not cross their lips,” he says of the lawmakers and witnesses.
That is a serious oversight, he argues. “This impacts every baby born in America,” he says.
No shit, if you have to argue over citizenship in the hospital when an infant needs a ton of medical support during and after birth, we’re just going to have more dead babies around since they won’t have insurance. Though I suppose that was the goal, only white babies get to leave the hospital alive and well.