Only 33 countries on Earth allow birthright citizenship. The vast majority of humans on Earth agree with American Constitutionalists on this matter. If, for instance, an American has a child in Denmark, that child is American. Only Danish citizens can have Danish children. This is the most logical, just, sane, and democratic way to have a nation.
The 14th amendment was not passed to protect anchor babies or even permit their recent legal status. The “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” clause meant (and means) that if the child is subject to the jurisdiction of another country (i.e. the country to which the child’s parents are citizens), then that child is a citizen of that country. Zero anchor babies were automatically granted citizenship with the passage of the 14th amendment in 1868. It was not until 1898 that the Supreme Court ruled that non-citizens who were legally in the U.S. could have an American child (U.S. vs. Wong Kim Ark). That case did not affirm that children of illegals were American, it strictly ruled that non-citizens with legal resident status could have American children. Anchor babies were not Americans even then, and still had to undergo naturalization at some point in life in order to be citizens.
The legality and constitutionality of granting citizenship to children of illegal aliens is nonexistent. This is yet one more instance where the constitution is ignored, to the detriment of all Americans. There is no reason for this to continue.
American liberals often compare the U.S. to Europe, yet in Europe it is the standard that birthright citizenship is a preposterous notion, and it fundamentally undermines democratic and republican principles (which classically stipulate that a government represents a People, and that People are not based on where they are born, but to whom they are born). America used to be the same way, and this was changed without any constitutional procedure. Anchor babies of illegal aliens are not and never were legally American, and this simply must be reaffirmed.
There is no rational argument to continue with Jus Soli. Historically, it is the policy of empires and geographically large dictatorships, not democracies or republics that value representation. If you’ve read Aristotle, you might also be aware that granting citizenship this way violates consent of the governed, and government for, by, and of the People.