Birthright citizenship and Roman moral teaching. . .

So the USCCB (US Conference of Catholic Bishops) sent a friend of the court brief on the issue of  “birthright citizenship” -- a longstanding policy ended by a Trump executive order.  Their concern is  “whether the law will protect the human dignity of all God’s children.”  The oddly curious question here is whether or not birthright citizenship applies beyond the US and if it is reflection of Roman Catholic moral teaching overall.  And, if that is the case, why does it not apply to the Vatican?

Only a fool would suggest that there are not valid arguments on both sides but the USCCB has framed this in moral terms and that it evidence of the incoherence of their brief.  Birthright citizenship has flown from the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, “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.”  While it was meant to grant citizenship to freed slaves, it has been applied universally ever since -- other than the exceptions to the birthright-citizenship policy such as children born to foreign diplomat or born to members of an invading army.  But whether it was meant to be applied as universally as it has been, that is a debate.

The bishops insist that “children do nothing wrong by being born in the United States” but that does not necessarily lead to the claim that “depriving an innocent child of his citizenship based upon his parents’ immigration status would be an especially outrageous punishment.” Roman Catholic moral teaching has always allowed states the authority to set their own standards for citizenship.  According to their logic here, everyone has an inherent right to citizenship.  “Birthright citizenship,” say the bishops, “accords with the Church’s teachings concerning the State’s obligation to uphold and protect human dignity because it treats birth within a community as a sufficient and objective basis for political belonging.”  If this is the case, then what about other countries?  That is why this is either odd or incoherent.

We can argue the wisdom on both sides of this issue but to claim the moral high ground in favor of birthright citizenship is a bridge too far even for Roman Catholic bishops.