Friend,
With just over a month before the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on the Trump administration's executive order limiting birthright citizenship, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has entered the fray, urging the justices to "protect God-given human dignity" by striking down what they describe as an "immoral" order.
In their amicus brief, the bishops argue that the case is not simply about constitutional interpretation: "It is a question of whether the law will affirm or deny the equal worth of those born within our common community—whether the law will protect the human dignity of all God's children."
There are serious legal arguments to reasonably question altering a policy that has been practiced for 128 years. That is a legitimate constitutional discussion.
But to frame the issue as though limiting automatic citizenship is "immoral" or somehow denies "God-given human dignity" is unsustainable—both logically and theologically.
Dignity, in Catholic teaching, does not come from a passport, a constitutional clause or a legislative act. It comes from being created in the image of God.
If U.S. citizenship is necessary to affirm the "equal worth" of a child, then dignity has ceased to be inherent and has instead become a concession of the state. That argument does not strengthen the Church's moral witness—it weakens it. By tying dignity to civil status, the bishops inadvertently echo the logic of the abortion industry: rights exist because the state recognizes them.
Are children born in Mexico, Nigeria, Poland, or the Philippines any less bearers of God-given dignity because they lack U.S. citizenship? Of course not. The suggestion collapses under its own weight.
If citizenship, instead, is the indispensable instrument for affirming human dignity, then consistency would demand extending U.S. citizenship to all eight billion people on the planet. How is this Catholic teaching?
The United States is not some moral outlier for questioning birthright citizenship. In the European Union, 18 of the 27 member states either lack or significantly restrict automatic birthright citizenship, relying primarily on citizenship by bloodline. These are the same Western democracies often invoked as humane exemplars.
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