Judge James Ho Kicks Off The Auditions For Trump’s Next Supreme Court Pick

LOADING ERROR LOADING The audition process for potential open Supreme Court seats is off and running, thanks to the possibility that conservative justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas could decide to retire during Donald Trump’s second term. In a 2006 paper titled “Defining ‘American’: Birthright Citizenship And The Original Understanding Of The 14th Amendment,” Ho made an originalist defense of the judiciary’s long-standing interpretation of birthright citizenship while arguing that the only way it could be restricted would be through a constitutional amendment — a much higher bar than Trump, acting on his own, could clear. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge James Ho updated his position on birthright citizenship to match Trump's. Ho’s legal logic rests on the landmark 1898 Supreme Court case of U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark that interpreted birthright citizenship as applying to those born on U.S. soil to noncitizens, no matter their legal status in the country or allegiance to the country. That decision stated: “The fourteenth amendment affirms the ancient and fundamental rule of citizenship by birth within the territory, in the allegiance and under the protection of the country, including all children here born of resident aliens, with the exceptions or qualifications of children of foreign sovereigns or their ministers, or born on foreign public ships, or of enemies within and during a hostile occupation of part of our territory, and with the single additional exception of children of members of the Indian tribes owing direct allegiance to their several tribes.” But this logic is twisted.