Understanding Nativist Elements Relating to Immigration Policies and to the American Constitution’s Natural Born Citizen Clause

This essay asks two related questions: First, is a society justified in distinguishing: citizens and immigrants? Second, is a society justified in distinguishing: (1) citizens from birth, and (2) persons who become citizens through naturalization some time after they are born? In addressing these related questions, this essay discusses: (1) policies relating to crossing international frontiers, and (2) United States Constitution, Article 2, Section 1, Clause 5―the “Natural Born Citizen Clause.” Modern commentators have uniformly suggested: that the latter constitutional provision serves no morally sound or reasonable purpose, and that the provision is rooted in bigotry and xenophobia. The author takes a contrary position, and supports his viewpoint by referencing early post-ratification constitutional scholarship and by posing hypotheticals to the reader in a Socratic dialogue.