John Lewis bent the moral arc of the universe as few others have. When he died, he left behind a legacy that we work to honor every day. He always believed that America would one day find her better angels.

In the years after Dred Scott, a Supreme Court decision that denied citizenship to Black Americans, the United States ratified the 14th Amendment, granting citizenship to all born or naturalized in our country. Some 30 years later, United States v. Wong Kim Ark established the principle of birthright citizenship. This landmark Supreme Court case created not just a legal precedent, but a fundamental promise to the world that anyone could build their home in America.

The American people have always been defined by our commitment to these ideals. Our founding documents refer to “we, the people,” and the Constitution makes clear who those people are. The 14th Amendment could not be more direct about who gets to be an American: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States ... are citizens of the United States.”

For more than 150 years, our courts have upheld this simple principle. No judge, no politician and no administration can erase that promise with the stroke of a pen — not........

© lohud.com