
Originally Posted by
steveopia
"Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
I thought the "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof" portion of the first sentence implied that citizenship only be given to persons born to people who are subject to US jurisdiction (i.e. American citizens).
I Googled "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof". Wow. Apparently there's an insane amount of interpretations pertaining to that portion of that first sentence. I've thoroughly confused myself now. I've got some reading to do.