The 14th Amendment is disputed because Congress has not clarified the meaning of “and under the jurisdiction thereof,” for today’s situation that the parents of the anchor baby are of another nation’s jurisdiction, having broken into the U. S., their children born here of the nationality of the trespassing parents’ homeland. The 14th Amendment was ratified so that the newly freed slaves and their children born in the U. S. be registered citizens, and the phrase “under the jurisdiction thereof” was to address the native Americans of the 1860’s and beyond, that to become citizens they hold allegiance to the U. S. over to their tribal government. The issue of “anchor babies” and “birth tourism” were not obviously foreseen by the composers of the 14th Amendment, but their phrase “and under the jurisdiction thereof” provides the framework for Congress to clarify for the modern application.
