Tom Cotton

The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday upheld more than a century of precedent, affirming that under the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution, children born in this nation are citizens regardless of the status of their parents.

President Donald Trump had attempted to end birthright citizenship by executive order last year.

It was a narrow 5-4 decision, which might keep you up at night about the degree to which the court is open to the idea of the executive scribbling over the Constitution by fiat if it happens to tickle right-wing fancies (or fantasies).

Sen. Tom Cotton, the grand wizard of grandstanding, wasted no time hopping on social media to complain about the Court’s “devastatingly wrong” ruling and promising to round up more immigrants for deportation or incarceration. Cotton last year introduced legislation to end birthright citizenship, and that Congress should try his legislative approach after Trump’s executive order was nixed by the Court. “Following today’s ruling, Congress should pass my Constitutional Citizenship Clarification Act to ensure only the children of those here lawfully are granted citizenship.”

Nativist politics have been the Republican party’s bread and butter ever since Trump descended the golden elevator to ramble like a sauced great uncle about the evils of Mexican people. But honestly, the extent to which the GOP base has gone full “Bill the Butcher” is kind of shocking.

Sean Davis, a neurotic social media addict who runs the right-wing webzine The Federalist, was apoplectic:

Or here’s Matt Walsh, a popular Trumpist provocateur who makes extremely tedious documentaries and sadly dyes his beard:

You might wonder what Walsh is talking about since birthright citizenship has been the law of the land in the United States for much longer than 40 years. I’m going to hazard a guess that what is causing Walsh anxiety is demographic change and the racial makeup of the nation’s population. Make America White Again.