Alan Dershowitz Says There’s A Way The Supreme Court Can Avoid Killing Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order

Attorney Alan Dershowitz said Monday that one question can help the U.S. Supreme Court avoid striking down President Donald Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship.

Trump, shortly after being sworn into office last week, issued an executive order tightening the rules on citizenship granted to those born in the United States. That act prompted legal challenges from the ACLU and multiple states that former vice president Kamala Harris won in the Nov. 5 presidential election. Dershowitz said one legal principle could trip up the lawsuits against Trump’s executive order.

Dershowitz spoke of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which granted citizenship to freed slaves after the Civil War.

“The amendment is badly written, and it gives rise to debate. The debate often takes on a partisan edge, but both parts of the amendment have to be considered,” Dershowitz said during Monday’s episode of “The Dershow.”

“You can’t just consider the words in the amendment and eliminate half of them, even if they become anachronistic. That’s the same thing about the 14th Amendment and the provision about subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. So there’s going to be debates. The president issued an order, an executive order. Executive orders only last as long as the presidency lasts and can be revoked upon the next presidency, but we’ll see what happens.”

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Dershowitz said there are challenges from the states that led to at least one district judge to block Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order on birthright citizenship.