1 00:00:15,188 --> 00:00:18,138 [Rush Lindell] Today is the last day of the Supreme Court's term. 2 00:00:18,438 --> 00:00:19,388 [Rush Lindell] That means Trump v. 3 00:00:19,487 --> 00:00:19,938 [Rush Lindell] Barba, 4 00:00:20,088 --> 00:00:21,888 [Rush Lindell] the birthright citizenship case, 5 00:00:22,088 --> 00:00:23,088 [Rush Lindell] drops today. 6 00:00:23,438 --> 00:00:24,438 [Rush Lindell] Done. Final. 7 00:00:24,737 --> 00:00:25,438 [Rush Lindell] No more waiting. 8 00:00:25,438 --> 00:00:25,688 [Reagan] Wow 9 00:00:25,688 --> 00:00:27,887 [Speaker 3] And this one's been hanging over everything. 10 00:00:28,387 --> 00:00:32,037 [Speaker 3] ABC News calls it one of the most anticipated rulings of the year. 11 00:00:32,437 --> 00:00:37,737 [Speaker 3] Roughly 150,000 children born on U.S. soil each year are in the crosshairs. 12 00:00:37,937 --> 00:00:40,787 [Rush Lindell] 150,000 per year, 13 00:00:40,838 --> 00:00:42,537 [Rush Lindell] and Trump went on Truth Social. 14 00:00:42,484 --> 00:00:46,334 [Rush Lindell] Before the ruling even came out and said he expected to lose, 15 00:00:46,634 --> 00:00:48,283 [Rush Lindell] you know what nobody wants to say? 16 00:00:48,533 --> 00:00:50,033 [Rush Lindell] That's not legal strategy, 17 00:00:50,334 --> 00:00:51,934 [Rush Lindell] that's a man with a clock ticking. 18 00:00:52,234 --> 00:00:54,434 [Speaker 3] And he attended oral arguments in person, 19 00:00:54,734 --> 00:00:56,884 [Speaker 3] first sitting president on record to do that. 20 00:00:57,234 --> 00:01:00,734 [Rush Lindell] Historic for all the wrong reasons, depending on who you ask. 21 00:01:00,834 --> 00:01:03,634 [Rush Lindell] So we are going to walk through every layer of this: 22 00:01:03,784 --> 00:01:05,084 [Rush Lindell] the government's legal argument, 23 00:01:05,384 --> 00:01:06,984 [Rush Lindell] why it didn't land in the courtroom, 24 00:01:07,284 --> 00:01:09,034 [Rush Lindell] and what the two paths to a ruling. 25 00:01:08,947 --> 00:01:10,297 [Rush Lindell] actually look like? 26 00:01:10,497 --> 00:01:14,197 [Speaker 3] That second path is the one cable news is going to completely miss. 27 00:01:14,647 --> 00:01:22,647 [Speaker 3] There's a narrow statutory route under the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act that leaves the constitutional question open entirely. 28 00:01:22,947 --> 00:01:23,597 [Speaker 3] Future fight! 29 00:01:23,847 --> 00:01:25,798 [Rush Lindell] And while everyone's watching birthright, 30 00:01:26,048 --> 00:01:28,497 [Rush Lindell] the DOJ is running a parallel track. 31 00:01:28,897 --> 00:01:34,997 [Rush Lindell] CBS News reported the administration is targeting 250 denaturalization cases by October. 32 00:01:34,835 --> 00:01:39,435 [Rush Lindell] By October (as in revoking citizenship from people who already have it). 33 00:01:39,585 --> 00:01:41,935 [Speaker 3] That's an entirely different legal mechanism, 34 00:01:42,236 --> 00:01:42,885 [Speaker 3] different courts, 35 00:01:43,085 --> 00:01:45,936 [Speaker 3] different standards-will pull those two tracks apart. 36 00:01:46,286 --> 00:01:46,986 [Rush Lindell] Two tracks, 37 00:01:47,236 --> 00:01:52,786 [Rush Lindell] one ruling dropping today and a Truth Social post from the president basically calling his own shot. 38 00:01:52,986 --> 00:01:56,186 [Speaker 3] So the clock's been running since about ten a.m. Eastern this morning. 39 00:01:56,436 --> 00:01:57,585 [Rush Lindell] Then let's get to work. 40 00:01:57,786 --> 00:01:58,435 [Rush Lindell] First segment, 41 00:01:58,585 --> 00:01:59,985 [Rush Lindell] we start where the case started: 42 00:02:00,185 --> 00:02:00,735 [Rush Lindell] what the government 43 00:02:00,735 --> 00:02:01,335 [Speaker 4] asked the court to decide. 44 00:02:00,659 --> 00:02:03,209 [Rush Lindell] government actually argued and why it didn't land. 45 00:02:08,509 --> 00:02:09,659 [Rush Lindell] Before we dive in, 46 00:02:09,810 --> 00:02:12,509 [Rush Lindell] a quick reminder: we love hearing from you. 47 00:02:12,710 --> 00:02:15,259 [Rush Lindell] If you have questions or topics you'd like us to cover, 48 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:18,009 [Rush Lindell] head to the link in the description and submit your question. 49 00:02:18,159 --> 00:02:19,609 [Rush Lindell] We read every single one. 50 00:02:25,239 --> 00:02:27,239 [Rush Lindell] So here's what's going on today. 51 00:02:27,389 --> 00:02:28,539 [Rush Lindell] And I mean today, 52 00:02:28,939 --> 00:02:29,589 [Rush Lindell] right now, 53 00:02:29,689 --> 00:02:30,439 [Rush Lindell] this morning, 54 00:02:30,839 --> 00:02:33,939 [Rush Lindell] the Supreme Court is sitting on the last day of its term, 55 00:02:34,139 --> 00:02:35,639 [Rush Lindell] four cases still pending. 56 00:02:36,039 --> 00:02:37,339 [Rush Lindell] One of them is Trump v. 57 00:02:37,539 --> 00:02:37,939 [Rush Lindell] Barbara, 58 00:02:38,189 --> 00:02:39,989 [Rush Lindell] the birthright citizenship ruling. 59 00:02:40,289 --> 00:02:41,639 [Rush Lindell] And if they don't drop it today, 60 00:02:41,939 --> 00:02:43,239 [Rush Lindell] they adjourn for the summer. 61 00:02:43,389 --> 00:02:44,989 [Rush Lindell] That's the clock we're watching. 62 00:02:45,340 --> 00:02:47,090 [Speaker 3] That's the procedural reality. 63 00:02:47,590 --> 00:02:50,939 [Speaker 3] ABC News confirmed the court must rule before summer recess. 64 00:02:50,963 --> 00:02:52,313 [Speaker 5] Yes; today is it. 65 00:02:52,514 --> 00:02:55,063 [Rush Lindell] Today is it!" And look, 66 00:02:55,163 --> 00:02:59,264 [Rush Lindell] everybody's been pretending they understand this case all week-the anchors, 67 00:02:59,413 --> 00:03:00,014 [Rush Lindell] the panels, 68 00:03:00,163 --> 00:03:03,614 [Rush Lindell] the whole circus-but here's what most of them won't tell you: 69 00:03:04,014 --> 00:03:06,963 [Rush Lindell] Trump himself already told you how this ends. 70 00:03:07,213 --> 00:03:08,963 [Rush Lindell] On Truth Social in May, 71 00:03:09,213 --> 00:03:16,764 [Rush Lindell] he posted that a negative ruling on birthright citizenship is not economically sustainable for the United States of America. 72 00:03:16,723 --> 00:03:16,923 [Rush Lindell] The 73 00:03:16,923 --> 00:03:17,173 [Speaker 3] mm-hmm. 74 00:03:17,173 --> 00:03:21,723 [Rush Lindell] President of the United States predicted his own loss-in writing! 75 00:03:22,223 --> 00:03:27,123 [Speaker 3] To be fair-and I think this matters-Trump also attended the oral arguments in April, 76 00:03:27,373 --> 00:03:31,473 [Speaker 3] first sitting president to do that in the official record; he sat in that courtroom, 77 00:03:31,723 --> 00:03:32,923 [Speaker 3] heard the justices questions, 78 00:03:33,223 --> 00:03:36,524 [Speaker 3] and apparently reached the same conclusion the legal analysts did. 79 00:03:37,024 --> 00:03:38,473 [Rush Lindell] Trump has to pay attention, 80 00:03:38,623 --> 00:03:40,323 [Rush Lindell] he's definitely not surprised. 81 00:03:40,673 --> 00:03:45,173 [Rush Lindell] SCOTUSblog said after oral argument the court appeared likely to side against him. 82 00:03:44,979 --> 00:03:45,179 [Rush Lindell] Tim, 83 00:03:45,379 --> 00:03:47,629 [Rush Lindell] which means the President watched the hearing, 84 00:03:47,879 --> 00:03:48,479 [Rush Lindell] went home, 85 00:03:48,780 --> 00:03:51,979 [Rush Lindell] and posted what amounts to a concession speech on social media, 86 00:03:52,379 --> 00:03:53,530 [Rush Lindell] weeks before the ruling. 87 00:03:53,979 --> 00:03:56,679 [Speaker 3] Preemptive grievance. It's a genre now. 88 00:03:57,429 --> 00:03:58,030 [Rush Lindell] It is. 89 00:03:58,079 --> 00:03:58,780 [Rush Lindell] And look, 90 00:03:59,030 --> 00:04:01,629 [Rush Lindell] the executive order has never once been enforced, 91 00:04:02,079 --> 00:04:05,530 [Rush Lindell] blocked continuously since January 25th, 2025, 92 00:04:06,079 --> 00:04:11,379 [Rush Lindell] over a year and a half of injunctions. The ACLU estimates this ruling could affect... 93 00:04:11,123 --> 00:04:17,824 [Rush Lindell] affect the citizenship status of more than 200,000 children born to immigrant parents every year. 94 00:04:18,173 --> 00:04:20,223 [Speaker 3] Which means the stakes aren't abstract. 95 00:04:20,524 --> 00:04:25,874 [Speaker 3] That number represents real families in legal limbo right now waiting on nine justices. 96 00:04:26,223 --> 00:04:27,274 [Rush Lindell] Exactly right. 97 00:04:27,374 --> 00:04:30,024 [Rush Lindell] And the question that nobody's actually answered yet, 98 00:04:30,374 --> 00:04:33,124 [Rush Lindell] what does the Constitution say word for word, 99 00:04:33,423 --> 00:04:36,423 [Rush Lindell] and does this executive order survive contact with it? 100 00:04:41,816 --> 00:04:42,816 [Rush Lindell] So the text: 101 00:04:43,165 --> 00:04:43,915 [Rush Lindell] "Four words, 102 00:04:44,266 --> 00:04:46,516 [Rush Lindell] subject to the jurisdiction thereof, 103 00:04:46,766 --> 00:04:48,816 [Rush Lindell] the whole fight lives right there. 104 00:04:49,216 --> 00:04:54,216 [Speaker 3] And the Administration didn't argue that those words mean something new-that's the tell. 105 00:04:54,615 --> 00:04:56,566 [Speaker 3] They went back to Wong Kim Ark, 106 00:04:56,665 --> 00:04:58,115 [Speaker 3] the eighteen ninety eight case, 107 00:04:58,415 --> 00:04:59,266 [Speaker 3] and said look, 108 00:04:59,415 --> 00:05:00,766 [Speaker 3] domicile was in there, 109 00:05:00,966 --> 00:05:01,665 [Speaker 3] that's the key! 110 00:05:02,066 --> 00:05:04,766 [Rush Lindell] They borrowed the precedent they were trying to beat! 111 00:05:05,165 --> 00:05:05,816 [Speaker 3] Exactly. 112 00:05:06,016 --> 00:05:08,216 [Speaker 3] The Library of Congress CRS brief. 113 00:05:08,084 --> 00:05:10,033 [Speaker 3] The brief lays this out precisely: 114 00:05:10,533 --> 00:05:13,483 [Speaker 3] the Solicitor General told Justice Sotomayor directly, 115 00:05:13,884 --> 00:05:16,684 [Speaker 3] "We're not asking you to overrule Wong Kim Ark, 116 00:05:16,983 --> 00:05:18,684 [Speaker 3] we're asking you to read it differently: 117 00:05:19,233 --> 00:05:25,134 [Speaker 3] domicile appeared in that eighteen ninety eight case therefore domicile is the constitutional threshold. 118 00:05:25,584 --> 00:05:26,733 [Rush Lindell] Which sounds clever, 119 00:05:26,884 --> 00:05:27,434 [Rush Lindell] until... 120 00:05:27,684 --> 00:05:34,434 [Speaker 3] Until you realize why domicile appeared-Wong's parents had been in San Francisco for over twenty years. 121 00:05:34,391 --> 00:05:40,391 [Speaker 3] Nobody disputed that; it was stipulated background fact; the holding didn't turn on it. 122 00:05:40,641 --> 00:05:44,641 [Rush Lindell] So they took a footnote level detail and tried to make it the whole argument. 123 00:05:44,991 --> 00:05:53,791 [Rush Lindell] Right; and the Fourteenth Amendment doesn't say "domicile," it says "jurisdiction." Congress chose that word in eighteen sixty eight, 124 00:05:54,141 --> 00:05:58,841 [Rush Lindell] then re used it verbatim in the nineteen fifty two Immigration and Nationality Act. 125 00:05:59,541 --> 00:06:01,791 [Rush Lindell] Justice Kavanaugh caught this at oral argument: 126 00:06:02,141 --> 00:06:03,191 [Rush Lindell] "If you mean something new, 127 00:06:03,191 --> 00:06:03,391 [Speaker 4] you have to say it. 128 00:06:02,995 --> 00:06:03,695 [Rush Lindell] If something narrower, 129 00:06:04,145 --> 00:06:07,495 [Rush Lindell] why would Congress keep borrowing the exact same phrase? 130 00:06:07,895 --> 00:06:10,295 [Rush Lindell] That's the question that writes the opinion. 131 00:06:10,846 --> 00:06:16,645 [Rush Lindell] Maybe—and Roberts had his own moment—the Solicitor General appealed to modern circumstances. 132 00:06:17,245 --> 00:06:19,995 [Rush Lindell] Birth tourism changed migration patterns. 133 00:06:20,545 --> 00:06:21,545 [Rush Lindell] Roberts cut him off. 134 00:06:21,995 --> 00:06:24,445 [Rush Lindell] According to reporting on April first argument, 135 00:06:24,846 --> 00:06:25,195 [Rush Lindell] he said, 136 00:06:25,395 --> 00:06:25,695 [Rush Lindell] "Well, 137 00:06:25,846 --> 00:06:26,795 [Rush Lindell] it's a new world, 138 00:06:27,045 --> 00:06:28,395 [Rush Lindell] it's the same Constitution. 139 00:06:28,937 --> 00:06:31,288 [Rush Lindell] The six words—the whole case. 140 00:06:31,788 --> 00:06:38,187 [Rush Lindell] What's devastating about the domicile argument isn't just that it's textually weak; it's that if the court bought it, 141 00:06:38,538 --> 00:06:42,437 [Rush Lindell] determining citizenship at birth would require a factual inquiry. 142 00:06:42,987 --> 00:06:44,937 [Rush Lindell] Is this parent domiciled here? 143 00:06:45,437 --> 00:06:47,588 [Rush Lindell] Justice Barrett flagged exactly that: 144 00:06:47,987 --> 00:06:53,437 [Rush Lindell] a newborn's citizenship left in legal limbo while domicile questions get sorted out. 145 00:06:53,838 --> 00:06:57,538 [Rush Lindell] That's a bureaucratic nightmare dressed up as constitutional fair. 146 00:06:57,300 --> 00:06:59,949 [Rush Lindell] ...of theory; and no one on that bench seemed 147 00:06:59,949 --> 00:07:00,250 [Speaker 4] to doubt that he was right. 148 00:07:00,101 --> 00:07:01,251 [Rush Lindell] And interested in owning it, 149 00:07:01,401 --> 00:07:02,501 [Rush Lindell] conservative or liberal. 150 00:07:02,951 --> 00:07:08,501 [Rush Lindell] You know what nobody wants to say?" The Administration walked into that argument knowing the text was against them. 151 00:07:08,801 --> 00:07:12,001 [Rush Lindell] That's why Trump was already posting the loss prediction before the ruling. 152 00:07:12,451 --> 00:07:14,101 [Reagan] Which sets up the next question: 153 00:07:14,551 --> 00:07:16,351 [Reagan] when six justices are skeptical, 154 00:07:16,701 --> 00:07:17,901 [Reagan] how do they write the opinion? 155 00:07:18,401 --> 00:07:20,201 [Reagan] Because there are at least two paths, 156 00:07:20,401 --> 00:07:23,051 [Reagan] and one of them the media will completely miss. 157 00:07:23,401 --> 00:07:25,601 [Rush Lindell] That's where this gets genuinely interesting. 158 00:07:25,901 --> 00:07:26,701 [Rush Lindell] Let's get into it. 159 00:07:26,941 --> 00:07:27,241 [Speaker 3] Hmm 160 00:07:32,367 --> 00:07:36,667 [Rush Lindell] So the whole court basically looked at that domicile argument and said no. 161 00:07:37,167 --> 00:07:39,567 [Rush Lindell] The New York Times flagged it after argument: 162 00:07:39,967 --> 00:07:43,217 [Rush Lindell] "Two possible paths for ruling against the Administration: 163 00:07:43,767 --> 00:07:44,267 [Rush Lindell] Path one, 164 00:07:44,667 --> 00:07:49,167 [Rush Lindell] reaffirm Wong Kim Ark directly on Fourteenth Amendment grounds; path two 165 00:07:49,167 --> 00:07:50,167 [Reagan] The INA. 166 00:07:50,617 --> 00:07:50,967 [Rush Lindell] Right, 167 00:07:51,217 --> 00:07:54,417 [Rush Lindell] the nineteen fifty two Immigration and Nationality Act. 168 00:07:54,817 --> 00:07:58,117 [Rush Lindell] Congress codified birthright citizenship in statute. 169 00:07:58,105 --> 00:07:58,305 [Rush Lindell] Acute, 170 00:07:58,655 --> 00:08:04,505 [Rush Lindell] the court could kill the executive order on that ground alone and never touch the constitutional question. 171 00:08:04,855 --> 00:08:07,755 [Reagan] And Justice Kavanaugh actually raised that at argument: 172 00:08:08,205 --> 00:08:11,605 [Reagan] "The constitutional avoidance doctrine-decide on the statute, 173 00:08:11,855 --> 00:08:12,855 [Reagan] skip the bigger fight. 174 00:08:13,305 --> 00:08:18,805 [Rush Lindell] You know what nobody wants to say-that's the outcome cable news will completely miss. 175 00:08:19,255 --> 00:08:23,455 [Rush Lindell] A narrow statutory ruling looks like a Trump loss on the scoreboard. 176 00:08:23,855 --> 00:08:25,055 [Rush Lindell] Win for the challengers. 177 00:08:25,017 --> 00:08:26,617 [Rush Lindell] Congress executive order dead, 178 00:08:26,967 --> 00:08:30,767 [Rush Lindell] and every anchor calls it a defeat for the Administration and moves on. 179 00:08:31,067 --> 00:08:31,417 [Reagan] Okay, 180 00:08:31,617 --> 00:08:32,317 [Reagan] but Rush, 181 00:08:32,467 --> 00:08:33,767 [Reagan] is that actually wrong? 182 00:08:34,067 --> 00:08:35,767 [Reagan] The order gets blocked either way. 183 00:08:36,167 --> 00:08:37,417 [Rush Lindell] No, it's not wrong, 184 00:08:37,717 --> 00:08:38,517 [Rush Lindell] it's incomplete. 185 00:08:39,217 --> 00:08:42,167 [Rush Lindell] Here's what the statutory ruling leaves on the table: 186 00:08:42,517 --> 00:08:45,817 [Rush Lindell] the constitutional question is technically unresolved. 187 00:08:46,217 --> 00:08:48,117 [Rush Lindell] Any future president-this one, 188 00:08:48,267 --> 00:08:50,417 [Rush Lindell] next one-comes back with a statute, 189 00:08:50,717 --> 00:08:52,217 [Rush Lindell] or Congress passes something. 190 00:08:52,249 --> 00:08:53,999 [Rush Lindell] And the fight starts over. 191 00:08:54,399 --> 00:08:59,699 [Reagan] That's a fair point; a Fourteenth Amendment ruling forecloses that; a statutory ruling doesn't. 192 00:09:00,149 --> 00:09:14,599 [Rush Lindell] Exactly; the ACLU's own lawyers told Kavanaugh they'd rather have the court reaffirm Wong Kim Ark on the merits-their words; it would be prudent to go ahead and reaffirm it-even the winning side wants the bigger ruling. 193 00:09:14,999 --> 00:09:18,199 [Reagan] So the narrow path is the one that satisfies nobody. 194 00:09:18,073 --> 00:09:18,823 [Reagan] Nobody completely. 195 00:09:19,323 --> 00:09:21,573 [Rush Lindell] And that's exactly why it's possible! 196 00:09:22,073 --> 00:09:24,873 [Rush Lindell] Courts love a landing strip that avoids a fight. 197 00:09:25,273 --> 00:09:26,873 [Rush Lindell] SCOTUSblog flagged it. 198 00:09:27,173 --> 00:09:30,573 [Rush Lindell] If there aren't five clean votes on the constitutional question, 199 00:09:30,573 --> 00:09:30,823 [Reagan] Yeah. 200 00:09:30,823 --> 00:09:32,973 [Rush Lindell] the statutory route becomes attractive. 201 00:09:33,473 --> 00:09:39,523 [Reagan] Alito and Thomas were the two votes most sympathetic to the Administration; that's a seven to two, 202 00:09:39,623 --> 00:09:40,273 [Reagan] or thereabouts, 203 00:09:40,423 --> 00:09:41,723 [Reagan] if the court goes constitutional. 204 00:09:42,323 --> 00:09:45,873 [Rush Lindell] Right-which means five votes for reaffirming Wong Kim Ark. 205 00:09:45,657 --> 00:09:47,607 [Rush Lindell] That isn't exactly hard math, 206 00:09:47,857 --> 00:09:53,607 [Rush Lindell] but five votes for a specific constitutional rationale everyone agrees on-that's different. 207 00:09:54,007 --> 00:09:58,757 [Rush Lindell] You could get a fractured constitutional ruling or one clean statutory one. 208 00:09:59,107 --> 00:09:59,857 [Reagan] So tonight, 209 00:10:00,007 --> 00:10:02,257 [Reagan] watching the decision drop-what's the tell? 210 00:10:02,607 --> 00:10:06,957 [Rush Lindell] If the opinion leads with the INA and barely touches the Fourteenth Amendment, 211 00:10:07,257 --> 00:10:08,657 [Rush Lindell] that's the narrow ruling. 212 00:10:08,957 --> 00:10:10,057 [Rush Lindell] The administration loses, 213 00:10:10,407 --> 00:10:11,657 [Rush Lindell] the headlines say it's over. 214 00:10:11,673 --> 00:10:14,273 [Rush Lindell] And it is absolutely not over. 215 00:10:14,573 --> 00:10:15,523 [Rush Lindell] Watch for that. 216 00:10:15,673 --> 00:10:17,523 [Rush Lindell] Now, here's where it gets interesting, 217 00:10:17,623 --> 00:10:17,973 [Rush Lindell] actually, 218 00:10:18,023 --> 00:10:21,873 [Rush Lindell] speaking of what the administration was selling to justify the order in the first place, 219 00:10:22,273 --> 00:10:22,823 [Reagan] Birth tourism. 220 00:10:23,423 --> 00:10:25,773 [Rush Lindell] Birth tourism, and that part of the argument? 221 00:10:26,123 --> 00:10:27,873 [Rush Lindell] Not entirely made up. 222 00:10:32,985 --> 00:10:33,535 [Rush Lindell] Okay, 223 00:10:33,635 --> 00:10:34,985 [Rush Lindell] so the policy concern. 224 00:10:35,235 --> 00:10:35,985 [Rush Lindell] Birth tourism. 225 00:10:36,185 --> 00:10:38,385 [Rush Lindell] Let me just say it plainly. It's real. 226 00:10:38,685 --> 00:10:39,385 [Reagan] It is real. 227 00:10:39,685 --> 00:10:44,185 [Rush Lindell] I'm talking about agencies, I'm calling them the womb concierge industry, 228 00:10:44,585 --> 00:10:52,085 [Rush Lindell] charging anywhere from $15,000 to over $80,000 to fly rich Chinese and Russian nationals over here, 229 00:10:52,485 --> 00:10:53,885 [Rush Lindell] set them up in maternity hotels, 230 00:10:54,385 --> 00:10:55,985 [Rush Lindell] deliver the baby on U.S. soil, 231 00:10:56,135 --> 00:10:59,135 [Rush Lindell] and hand you a passport application. That is an... 232 00:10:59,001 --> 00:11:00,701 [Speaker 5] It's an actual business model. 233 00:11:00,851 --> 00:11:05,001 [Reagan] Over 500 of those companies reportedly operate out of China alone. 234 00:11:05,401 --> 00:11:06,901 [Reagan] That number came up on oral argument. 235 00:11:07,351 --> 00:11:08,101 [Speaker 5] 500. 236 00:11:08,351 --> 00:11:09,451 [Speaker 5] That's not a loophole. 237 00:11:09,501 --> 00:11:10,601 [Speaker 5] That's an industry. 238 00:11:11,151 --> 00:11:11,501 [Reagan] Right. 239 00:11:11,751 --> 00:11:13,901 [Speaker 5] And Trump actually said it on Truth Social, 240 00:11:14,101 --> 00:11:14,501 [Speaker 5] quote, 241 00:11:14,651 --> 00:11:19,501 [Speaker 5] birthright citizenship is not about rich people from China who want it for pay. 242 00:11:19,801 --> 00:11:22,101 [Speaker 5] He's describing a genuine problem. 243 00:11:22,201 --> 00:11:23,151 [Reagan] He is, 244 00:11:23,201 --> 00:11:24,701 [Reagan] and I'll give him that completely. 245 00:11:25,177 --> 00:11:27,027 [Reagan] Birth tourism is worth fixing. 246 00:11:27,477 --> 00:11:28,177 [Speaker 5] But The 247 00:11:28,177 --> 00:11:31,327 [Reagan] But the executive order wasn't a fix for birth tourism. 248 00:11:31,627 --> 00:11:33,977 [Reagan] It was a fix for all birthright citizenship. 249 00:11:34,427 --> 00:11:35,277 [Reagan] Every child, 250 00:11:35,527 --> 00:11:36,877 [Reagan] every undocumented parent. 251 00:11:37,077 --> 00:11:38,627 [Reagan] That's a completely different scope. 252 00:11:38,927 --> 00:11:39,977 [Speaker 5] problem is real. 253 00:11:40,227 --> 00:11:41,527 [Speaker 5] The remedy was wrong. 254 00:11:42,041 --> 00:11:44,291 [Reagan] And there's the separation that matters: 255 00:11:44,741 --> 00:11:51,141 [Reagan] you can acknowledge the abuse without validating an unconstitutional executive order as the mechanism to stop it. 256 00:11:51,291 --> 00:11:53,041 [Reagan] Those are two separate questions. 257 00:11:53,641 --> 00:11:55,941 [Rush Lindell] So what's the constitutional fix? 258 00:11:56,041 --> 00:11:57,941 [Rush Lindell] Because visa fraud enforcement, 259 00:11:58,341 --> 00:11:59,841 [Rush Lindell] State Department rule changes, 260 00:12:00,141 --> 00:12:01,241 [Rush Lindell] those exist already. 261 00:12:02,003 --> 00:12:02,703 [Reagan] Exactly. 262 00:12:03,153 --> 00:12:10,903 [Reagan] FactCheck reported a twenty twenty Trump-era State Department rule that already created grounds to deny tourist visas for birth tourism purposes. 263 00:12:11,253 --> 00:12:13,403 [Reagan] That tool was already on the shelf. 264 00:12:13,903 --> 00:12:18,653 [Speaker 5] So you're telling me there was a scalpel available and they went with a sledgehammer? 265 00:12:19,353 --> 00:12:20,703 [Reagan] That's one way to put it. 266 00:12:21,913 --> 00:12:22,313 [Rush Lindell] Look, 267 00:12:22,563 --> 00:12:26,863 [Rush Lindell] the womb concierge industry deserves every enforcement action it gets. 268 00:12:27,213 --> 00:12:27,863 [Rush Lindell] I'm on board. 269 00:12:28,113 --> 00:12:35,013 [Rush Lindell] But you don't re write a hundred fifty years of constitutional law to close a premium service immigration loophole. 270 00:12:35,513 --> 00:12:38,013 [Reagan] And here's what nobody has been talking about: 271 00:12:38,413 --> 00:12:40,813 [Reagan] while SCOTUS has been consuming all the oxygen, 272 00:12:41,313 --> 00:12:44,613 [Reagan] the Justice Department has been running a completely separate track: 273 00:12:45,013 --> 00:12:46,513 [Reagan] denaturalization cases. 274 00:12:46,613 --> 00:12:48,513 [Reagan] And those numbers are something. 275 00:12:54,205 --> 00:12:57,155 [Rush Lindell] So while everybody's been watching the SCOTUS clock tick down, 276 00:12:57,555 --> 00:12:59,705 [Rush Lindell] there's a whole other machine running in parallel, 277 00:13:00,105 --> 00:13:02,005 [Rush Lindell] and the press has completely buried it. 278 00:13:02,155 --> 00:13:03,905 [Reagan] CBS News reported it straight: 279 00:13:04,305 --> 00:13:10,705 [Reagan] the DOJ plans to file at least two hundred and fifty denaturalization cases in federal courts by September thirtieth, 280 00:13:10,905 --> 00:13:11,655 [Reagan] end of fiscal year. 281 00:13:11,805 --> 00:13:13,455 [Rush Lindell] Two hundred and fifty. 282 00:13:13,955 --> 00:13:14,555 [Rush Lindell] Now hold on. 283 00:13:14,855 --> 00:13:16,505 [Rush Lindell] Let me put that number next to something. 284 00:13:16,955 --> 00:13:18,855 [Rush Lindell] From nineteen ninety to two thousand seventeen, 285 00:13:19,205 --> 00:13:20,205 [Rush Lindell] that's twenty seven years. 286 00:13:20,409 --> 00:13:24,059 [Speaker 5] The government averaged 11 denaturalization cases per year. 287 00:13:24,259 --> 00:13:24,659 [Reagan] Eleven. 288 00:13:24,959 --> 00:13:27,809 [Speaker 5] Eleven per year for nearly three decades. 289 00:13:28,009 --> 00:13:30,259 [Reagan] And now, 250 by October. 290 00:13:30,559 --> 00:13:30,759 [Speaker 5] Yeah, 291 00:13:31,259 --> 00:13:32,009 [Speaker 5] Sit with that. 292 00:13:32,209 --> 00:13:32,259 [Reagan] Wow! 293 00:13:32,259 --> 00:13:33,559 [Speaker 5] And it doesn't stop there. 294 00:13:34,059 --> 00:13:35,659 [Speaker 5] Internal USCIS guidance, 295 00:13:35,809 --> 00:13:37,059 [Speaker 5] reported by the New York Times, 296 00:13:37,509 --> 00:13:43,159 [Speaker 5] directs field offices to refer 100 to 200 cases per month to the DOJ for fiscal year 2026. 297 00:13:43,359 --> 00:13:46,309 [Speaker 5] That's potentially 2,400 cases annually. 298 00:13:46,561 --> 00:13:48,811 [Reagan] Hold on-that's the referral pipeline rush. 299 00:13:48,961 --> 00:13:52,361 [Reagan] Those don't all become "filed cases," but even if a fraction do, 300 00:13:52,511 --> 00:13:54,361 [Reagan] you're talking about a structural transformation, 301 00:13:54,611 --> 00:13:55,761 [Reagan] not an enforcement uptick. 302 00:13:57,011 --> 00:13:59,761 [Rush Lindell] But I want to make sure people understand what we're even talking about. 303 00:14:00,202 --> 00:14:02,502 [Rush Lindell] Because this is not the birthright citizenship fight. 304 00:14:02,602 --> 00:14:02,952 [Reagan] Right. 305 00:14:03,152 --> 00:14:04,352 [Reagan] Completely different legal track. 306 00:14:04,752 --> 00:14:11,152 [Reagan] Denaturalization targets naturalized citizens-people who went through the immigration process and got citizenship through naturalization, 307 00:14:11,602 --> 00:14:12,452 [Reagan] not people born here. 308 00:14:12,852 --> 00:14:15,352 [Reagan] These are two separate legal mechanisms running simultaneously. 309 00:14:15,752 --> 00:14:16,402 [Rush Lindell] Two tracks: 310 00:14:16,802 --> 00:14:19,452 [Rush Lindell] the SCOTUS case argues about who gets citizenship at birth; 311 00:14:19,452 --> 00:14:19,802 [Reagan] Mm-hmm. 312 00:14:19,802 --> 00:14:23,852 [Rush Lindell] the DOJ track argues about whether citizenship already granted can be taken back. 313 00:14:24,002 --> 00:14:25,752 [Reagan] And the government has actually been winning those, 314 00:14:26,152 --> 00:14:27,152 [Reagan] according to TRAC reports. 315 00:14:27,198 --> 00:14:31,598 [Reagan] They track federal filings-at least thirty three new cases were filed in May and June, 316 00:14:31,748 --> 00:14:32,348 [Reagan] twenty twenty six, 317 00:14:32,448 --> 00:14:32,698 [Reagan] alone, 318 00:14:33,148 --> 00:14:36,398 [Reagan] and the DOJ went eight for thirteen in cases it filed in twenty twenty five. 319 00:14:36,548 --> 00:14:38,098 [Rush Lindell] Eight out of thirteen. 320 00:14:38,498 --> 00:14:40,448 [Rush Lindell] So they're not just talking-they're winning. 321 00:14:40,748 --> 00:14:41,298 [Reagan] That said, 322 00:14:41,448 --> 00:14:43,298 [Reagan] the legal standard is genuinely high: 323 00:14:43,698 --> 00:14:44,598 [Reagan] the burden is clear, 324 00:14:44,798 --> 00:14:45,198 [Reagan] convincing, 325 00:14:45,398 --> 00:14:47,898 [Reagan] and unequivocal evidence—federal court every time, 326 00:14:48,098 --> 00:14:48,998 [Reagan] no administrative shortcut. 327 00:14:49,248 --> 00:14:50,648 [Rush Lindell] Which is where it gets complicated, 328 00:14:50,998 --> 00:14:53,298 [Rush Lindell] because the government is also building a quota system. 329 00:14:53,724 --> 00:14:55,324 [Rush Lindell] And the question nobody wants to ask: 330 00:14:55,674 --> 00:14:58,874 [Rush Lindell] can you maintain that standard at two hundred and fifty cases by fall, 331 00:14:59,124 --> 00:15:01,324 [Rush Lindell] and then potentially twenty four hundred a year? 332 00:15:01,524 --> 00:15:03,674 [Reagan] That's the question sitting right underneath all of this, 333 00:15:03,974 --> 00:15:06,024 [Reagan] and it connects to something bigger than the case count. 334 00:15:06,124 --> 00:15:06,874 [Rush Lindell] It does, 335 00:15:07,274 --> 00:15:08,424 [Rush Lindell] because when you pull back, 336 00:15:08,724 --> 00:15:13,024 [Rush Lindell] the birthright fight and the denaturalization push aren't two stories, 337 00:15:13,374 --> 00:15:14,674 [Rush Lindell] they're the same argument, 338 00:15:15,074 --> 00:15:17,124 [Rush Lindell] and that argument has an asterisk in it. 339 00:15:17,624 --> 00:15:20,224 [Reagan] I think you're going to need to explain that asterisk. 340 00:15:20,350 --> 00:15:21,950 [Rush Lindell] Oh, I'm going to. 341 00:15:27,518 --> 00:15:30,118 [Rush Lindell] So let me give you the unified theory here. 342 00:15:30,618 --> 00:15:31,268 [Rush Lindell] Two tracks, 343 00:15:31,568 --> 00:15:32,268 [Rush Lindell] one argument. 344 00:15:32,568 --> 00:15:36,918 [Rush Lindell] The administration is saying American citizenship has an asterisk. 345 00:15:37,018 --> 00:15:38,368 [Reagan] An asterisk? 346 00:15:39,618 --> 00:15:41,468 [Rush Lindell] Born here to the wrong parents? 347 00:15:41,718 --> 00:15:42,418 [Rush Lindell] Asterisk. 348 00:15:42,868 --> 00:15:46,568 [Rush Lindell] Naturalized but the DOJ found a paperwork problem from 1999? 349 00:15:47,268 --> 00:15:48,218 [Rush Lindell] Asterisk. 350 00:15:48,568 --> 00:15:50,468 [Rush Lindell] We all know what's really happening here. 351 00:15:50,718 --> 00:15:52,118 [Rush Lindell] They're not attacking the ceremony. 352 00:15:52,468 --> 00:15:53,518 [Rush Lindell] They're attacking the... 353 00:15:53,406 --> 00:15:54,356 [Rush Lindell] The permanence- 354 00:15:54,406 --> 00:15:57,756 [Reagan] And UVA law professor Amanda Frost nailed it. 355 00:15:58,156 --> 00:16:04,156 [Reagan] She's written that the administration has targeted 700,000 naturalized citizens for investigation, 356 00:16:04,456 --> 00:16:07,156 [Reagan] and the chilling effect alone changes behavior. 357 00:16:07,756 --> 00:16:10,906 [Reagan] Permanent residents stop applying for citizenship entirely. 358 00:16:11,356 --> 00:16:14,406 [Rush Lindell] 700,000 flagged for investigation? 359 00:16:14,856 --> 00:16:17,306 [Reagan] Yeah. And Frost's point is that a quota 360 00:16:17,306 --> 00:16:17,556 [Rush Lindell] Wow. 361 00:16:17,556 --> 00:16:19,256 [Reagan] -driven system creates its own. 362 00:16:19,134 --> 00:16:20,034 [Reagan] Its own pressure! 363 00:16:20,484 --> 00:16:26,534 [Reagan] When you're aiming for two hundred and fifty cases by October the incentive shifts from 'find the worst fraud' 364 00:16:26,684 --> 00:16:28,034 [Reagan] to 'meet the number'. 365 00:16:28,234 --> 00:16:31,134 [Rush Lindell] That's the thing that should scare everyone; left, 366 00:16:31,284 --> 00:16:31,584 [Rush Lindell] right, 367 00:16:31,684 --> 00:16:32,334 [Rush Lindell] doesn't matter. 368 00:16:32,734 --> 00:16:35,784 [Rush Lindell] The legal standard for denaturalization is clear, 369 00:16:35,984 --> 00:16:36,434 [Rush Lindell] convincing, 370 00:16:36,684 --> 00:16:37,634 [Rush Lindell] and unequivocal. 371 00:16:38,034 --> 00:16:40,134 [Rush Lindell] That bar exists for a reason. 372 00:16:40,534 --> 00:16:42,234 [Reagan] The salience circular matters, 373 00:16:42,384 --> 00:16:44,684 [Reagan] but we shouldn't take our eyes off the bigger picture. 374 00:16:45,312 --> 00:16:49,262 [Reagan] What does it mean to create a definition of inconsistent application? 375 00:16:49,862 --> 00:16:54,212 [Reagan] How do you find that line between simple human error and something more malicious? 376 00:16:54,912 --> 00:17:00,962 [Speaker 3] Right-the assembly line is fine until it isn't; and once the precedent is set at scale, 377 00:17:01,262 --> 00:17:04,012 [Speaker 3] the asterisk becomes standard operating procedure. 378 00:17:04,462 --> 00:17:06,512 [Reagan] Frost also flagged something darker: 379 00:17:06,962 --> 00:17:07,512 [Reagan] historically, 380 00:17:07,812 --> 00:17:11,212 [Reagan] denaturalization got weaponized against ideological opponents. 381 00:17:10,942 --> 00:17:13,592 [Reagan] opponents the nineteen fifties Red Scare. 382 00:17:14,192 --> 00:17:15,942 [Reagan] It hasn't happened yet in this cycle, 383 00:17:16,142 --> 00:17:17,842 [Reagan] but the infrastructure is now built. 384 00:17:18,242 --> 00:17:19,842 [Speaker 3] The machinery matters. 385 00:17:20,292 --> 00:17:22,342 [Speaker 3] Even if you trust the people running it today, 386 00:17:22,642 --> 00:17:25,592 [Speaker 3] machinery doesn't expire when administrations do. 387 00:17:26,042 --> 00:17:28,792 [Reagan] That's the argument that outlasts today's ruling. 388 00:17:34,452 --> 00:17:37,802 [Speaker 3] So tonight the networks are going to flash a chyron: 389 00:17:38,152 --> 00:17:42,802 [Speaker 3] "Trump Loses Birthright Citizenship Case-Full Stop-End of Story. 390 00:17:43,202 --> 00:17:45,902 [Reagan] And if it's a statutory ruling under the INA, 391 00:17:46,052 --> 00:17:47,652 [Reagan] that's exactly the wrong read. 392 00:17:48,052 --> 00:17:51,002 [Speaker 3] The constitutional question stays open, 393 00:17:51,402 --> 00:17:54,502 [Speaker 3] a future executive tries again with a different argument, 394 00:17:54,852 --> 00:17:56,752 [Speaker 3] and this ruling doesn't stop them. 395 00:17:57,102 --> 00:17:59,552 [Speaker 3] That's what nobody's going to say on cable. 396 00:17:59,952 --> 00:18:03,202 [Reagan] And the denaturalization push-two hundred fifty cases? 397 00:18:03,006 --> 00:18:04,456 [Reagan] Cases targeted by October? 398 00:18:04,756 --> 00:18:06,256 [Reagan] That train doesn't stop, 399 00:18:06,306 --> 00:18:07,556 [Reagan] regardless of today's outcome. 400 00:18:07,956 --> 00:18:11,006 [Reagan] CBS News had this on the record from a Justice Department official. 401 00:18:11,456 --> 00:18:13,406 [Speaker 3] Two completely separate tracks. 402 00:18:13,406 --> 00:18:13,856 [Reagan] Right. 403 00:18:13,856 --> 00:18:15,756 [Speaker 3] One ruling doesn't touch the other. 404 00:18:16,206 --> 00:18:17,756 [Reagan] Read the actual opinion, 405 00:18:18,006 --> 00:18:18,656 [Reagan] not the summary. 406 00:18:18,906 --> 00:18:22,256 [Reagan] The holding and the reasoning are going to tell very different stories. 407 00:18:22,656 --> 00:18:25,356 [Speaker 3] That's exactly why we're here today, 408 00:18:25,606 --> 00:18:27,956 [Speaker 3] before the networks got to it first. 409 00:18:33,588 --> 00:18:34,138 [Speaker 3] All right, 410 00:18:34,438 --> 00:18:35,338 [Speaker 3] bottom line today: 411 00:18:35,588 --> 00:18:37,388 [Speaker 3] the Supreme Court is out of time. 412 00:18:37,838 --> 00:18:38,338 [Speaker 3] Trump v. 413 00:18:38,538 --> 00:18:39,638 [Speaker 3] Barbara gets decided, 414 00:18:39,888 --> 00:18:42,288 [Speaker 3] and the question isn't just birthright citizenship. 415 00:18:42,738 --> 00:18:47,288 [Speaker 3] It's whether an executive order can rewrite what the Fourteenth Amendment actually says. 416 00:18:47,688 --> 00:18:49,738 [Reagan] And the Wong Kim Ark move they tried, 417 00:18:49,988 --> 00:18:52,488 [Reagan] borrowing the precedent to redefine domicile, 418 00:18:52,888 --> 00:18:54,388 [Reagan] didn't survive the oral arguments. 419 00:18:54,888 --> 00:18:55,338 [Reagan] Roberts, 420 00:18:55,488 --> 00:18:55,988 [Reagan] Kavanaugh, 421 00:18:56,088 --> 00:18:58,788 [Reagan] justices across the spectrum saw right through it. 422 00:18:59,188 --> 00:19:02,388 [Speaker 3] The President predicted his own loss on Truth Social. 423 00:19:02,142 --> 00:19:05,692 [Speaker 3] Social in writing-that's the episode right there. 424 00:19:06,174 --> 00:19:09,124 [Reagan] And don't sleep on the denaturalization track. 425 00:19:09,474 --> 00:19:11,374 [Reagan] That runs regardless of how today goes. 426 00:19:11,974 --> 00:19:15,174 [Speaker 3] Two separate fights-one ruling won't end either of them. 427 00:19:15,574 --> 00:19:19,374 [Speaker 3] Watch tonight's coverage carefully-the narrow ruling trap is real. 428 00:19:19,874 --> 00:19:20,674 [Reagan] That's the homework. 429 00:19:21,324 --> 00:19:23,324 [Speaker 3] If this show gave you something to think about, 430 00:19:23,624 --> 00:19:23,974 [Speaker 3] subscribe, 431 00:19:24,474 --> 00:19:25,774 [Speaker 3] drop us a five star review, 432 00:19:26,174 --> 00:19:27,624 [Speaker 3] send it to someone who needs it. 433 00:19:28,024 --> 00:19:29,724 [Speaker 3] New episodes every weekday. 434 00:19:29,974 --> 00:19:30,924 [Reagan] Thanks for being here. 435 00:19:31,124 --> 00:19:31,774 [Reagan] We'll see you tomorrow. 436 00:19:32,094 --> 00:19:32,944 [Rush Lindell] Stay sharp.