Best wishes for the new administration

This week, the US Supreme Court heard arguments pertaining to an executive order issued by President Donald Trump that seeks to deny citizenship to US-born children of undocumented or temporary immigrants.

- Atty. Marco F. G. Tomakin

This is commonly called "birthright citizenship". Remember that the US is only one of a few countries that follows the jus soli principle of citizenship which grants automatic US citizenship to persons born inside the US.

This principle applies whether the child's parents are documented immigrants or not. The issue before the US Supreme Court on this instance is focused mainly on whether the lower federal court can issue injunctions with nationwide applicability. This means to say that a federal court in California can issue an order that is applicable in all of the US even if that court is lower in the US court's hierarchy.

The administration maintains that this should not be the case as this power by the lower court is often abused and overused. On the other hand, if we only allow a limited applicability, we can have various courts interpreting differently which creates confusion and judicial dissonance. The US Supreme Court is expected to issue its decision this summer.

This is a major legal battle that warrants close attention. While the main issue before the court is more of a procedural issue, the bigger issue underneath is the ultimate question of whether or not we will see the full implementation of ending birthright citizenship.

Even though I am located halfway around the world, I still take particular interest in following what is happening in the Philippines and my beloved hometown Cebu. The recent elections produced a lot of surprises, most especially in the electoral contest between the formidable incumbent Gwen Garcia and the neophyte Pam Baricuatro.