Trump’s top two voting initiatives could disenfranchise many Americans

Two of President Trump’s major priorities may be about to collide, with potentially calamitous results.

Trump’s executive order abolishing birthright citizenship, now before the Supreme Court, is at direct odds with the SAVE America Act, requiring proof of citizenship to vote, which Trump has been insistently pushing Congress to pass. 

The conflict between the two is inescapable. The act demands official verification of citizenship to vote, while the executive order could effectively discredit most forms of proof.

Let’s begin with the executive order, formally titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” which purports to recognize birthright citizenship only of children with at least one parent who is either a citizen or a “lawful permanent resident” of the U.S. 

That contradicts the 14th Amendment, and an 1898 U.S. Supreme Court decision, plainly stating that those born in the U.S. “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.” The Trump administration has argued, however, in a tortuous two-step, that “jurisdiction” actually means “allegiance,” which the babies of “illegal” or temporary entrants supposedly do not hold. 

Under this theory, a U.S. birth certificate, would no longer constitute presumptive evidence of citizenship. The same goes for other forms of evidence, such as passports, which derive from birth certificates and are silent about parental immigration status.

Even a parent’s birth certificate would be questionable, absent proof of at least one grandparent’s citizenship. Ironically, only naturalized citizens would be able to prove their bona........

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