They are absolutely subject to our jurisdiction. If they murder someone, they go to prison. If they run a traffic light, they pay a ticket. They may not have citizenship, but if they steal from your business, they are going to jail under the laws.
The wording was meant, if I recall, to prohibit children of ambassadors and diplomats from gaining citizenship because they are the only people who can be in the United States and not subject to our laws.
In other words, the ambassador from Germany could, quite literally, shoot people on the steps of a federal courthouse and he cannot be charged with a crime because he is beyond the reach of American laws and not subject to our jurisdiction. We can only throw him our or beg Germany to remove his immunity and give us that right.
An illegal immigrant does not enjoy such rights under our constitution and treaties. If they shoot someone, they go to prison for murder. The fact that federal prosecutors may exercise discretion and deport them only underscores that they are under America’s jurisdiction.
Be intellectually honest about it. It sucks but the wording leaves no doubt that anchor babies are constitutional. That is why the constitution must be amended.
Hell, I hate the phenomenon but I couldn’t bring myself to rule against it if I were on the bench because anyone with any understanding of the purpose behind the 14th amendment and the history of it couldn’t possibly support that interpretation. It would be a form of conservative judicial activism because I would be knowingly overturning the law to fit it to what I thought was a “good” ends. That still doesn’t make it right.
Just amend the constitution.
Not as far as original intent is concerned.
What 'Subject to the Jurisdiction Thereof' Really Means
Sen. Trumbull and Sen. Howard then settled upon a construction for “subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” with Trumbull declaring: The provision is, that ‘all persons born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens.’ That means ‘subject to the complete jurisdiction thereof.’ What do we mean by ‘complete jurisdiction thereof?’ Not owing allegiance to anybody else. That is what it means.