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Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee Statement Following Claims that Birthright Citizenship may be Revoked by Executive Order

October 31, 2018

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PRESS STATEMENT HEADER

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Robin K. Chand

October 31, 2018 202-225-3816

Press Statement

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee Statement Following Claims that Birthright Citizenship may be Revoked by Executive Order

Jackson Lee: "Truth be told, this is just another attempt to scare the electorate, with no basis in the Constitution, and to distract the country from the xenophobia and intolerance that has defined the first two years of the Trump Presidency."

WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations, and senior member of the House Committees on Judiciary, Homeland Security, and Budget, released this statement following comments by the President that he may revoke birthright citizenship through Executive Order:

"As the months turn into weeks, and the weeks turn into days before one of the most anticipated midterm elections in recent memory, the President of the United States has turned to demonizing and hate. His most recent venture has been proclaiming—without legal authority, knowledge, sense of history, or likely a working understanding of the United States Constitution—that through Executive Order, he can reverse the dictates of the Fourteenth Amendment.

"To be certain, the Fourteenth Amendment is clear: "All persons born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the States where they reside." Any attempt to vitiate by Executive Order that which was done through a constitutional amendment, following a bloody civil war, is so absurd, that the Speaker of the House, a member of the President's party, felt compelled to emerge from a cocoon of complicity, to repudiate the President.

"Truth be told, this is just another attempt to scare the electorate, with no basis in the Constitution, and to distract the country from the xenophobia and intolerance that has defined the first two years of the Trump Presidency. Democrats are offering a better deal, For the People, which put the people first. It means lowering health care costs and prescription drug prices; it means increases in pay through strong economic growth by rebuilding America; and, it means rooting out corruption and ensuring that Washington works for the people."

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee is a Democrat from Texas's 18th Congressional District. She is a senior member of the House Committees on Judiciary and Homeland Security and is a Ranking Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations.