As part of a flurry of executive orders to kick off his presidency, President Trump signed an executive order declaring:

"It is the policy of the United States that no department or agency of the United States government shall issue documents recognizing United States citizenship, or accept documents issued by State, local, or other governments or authorities purporting to recognize United States citizenship, to persons:  (1) when that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth, or (2) when that person’s mother’s presence in the United States was lawful but temporary, and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth."

Of course, this order is sure to be challenged in the courts based upon the standing assumption that the 14th Amendment grants citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil. This has been the authority for so-called, "anchor babies," meaning babies born to people in the United States illegally.

But the 14th Amendment's grant of citizenship to those born here is no unqualified. The amendment reads, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof..."

So are children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants subject to the jurisdiction of the United States? And could the Republicans who drafted the amendment in 1866 have possibly anticipated the mass migrations of the 21st century?

Well, it turns out we can ask them. We have the Congressional record of these very issues being debated. I get into all of it on today's episode of Tom Mullen Talks Freedom. This is one you don't want to miss.

Listen to Episode 193 here...

Tom Mullen is the author of It’s the Fed, Stupid and Where Do Conservatives and Liberals Come From? And What Ever Happened to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness? 

 Tom