I think too many journalists and the general public are misinterpreting the recent decision of the u.s Supreme Court on birth rights, but also how to analyse election promises. The evolution and devolution of humankind will always mean the need for occasional revisiting of certain things. Trump is a hard test and sometimes even a dangerous test, so we must cautiously support or oppose him based on issues, not as a person or party affiliates.. I happen to have taken certain positions before Trump officially entered politics, including the advantages and disadvantages of birth-rights. However, it does not mean I am on the same page with Trump on birth-rights, how to handle media illusions or even lies, etc.
Limit versus Eliminate: The decision is calling for possible limitations of such rights, but the debate is by how much should that be limited? We must classify the groups that may be affected and use conscience as our guide. When I wrote about limiting such rights in around 2014, I was using ‘African Elite’ as an example. Many of the wives of corrupt politicians and heartless rich business folks in Africa think about only their children and are sending their wives to give birth in the u.s, then continue to ignore Africa as an example. I think putting a stop to such a practice is conscientious. It should be done both through re-education and new laws, but how can you educate cruel or indifferent leaders and rich folks? They may accuse my type of ‘jealousy’, because our top journalists and media house owners are either doing it, or blind to how the practice harms poor countries? My ‘crime’ is not denying your children ‘opportunity’, but loving even the children of the poor, paving ways for similar or higher opportunity for everyone on earth.
Short and long term ‘benefits’ versus alternatives: If the political leaders do not trust our doctors on even delivering babies, then it means they are neglecting the needed training to help the general public and guilty u.s is saying: ‘neglect and steal for airticket+’, we welcome the wives of mental robbers more than which groups? As for the rich African business folks, they are often arguing they want ‘quality’ education for their children. I do not think quality education is exclusive to the u.s or the West, but asking if our elites refuse to invest in quality private hospitals and quality private universities, then they do not deserve the privileges of u.s+ citizenship. Also then who should invest on such, or we wait for middle class westerners or what percentage of billionaires may ever care?
The alternatives: Few months ago, I wrote about the need for ‘International Open-Chance Day– July first’, and it fell on deaf ears. My small Gambia has about 1000 such births in the u.s, so how many more in the next decade if this ‘birth-right’ window continues? My point is 1000 to 10,000 people paying over $1000 each for air tickets alone is one million to one billion dollars shipping out after corruption monies and over charging the poor? I mean that over one billion dollars can start a quality private university to educate over 10,000 people per year or per decade in small Gambia. Beyond tiny Gambia, we are talking about tens or hundreds of billions of dollars being ‘wasted’ to get western ‘birth-rights’, but will they choose other countries or invest towards high end universities and hospitals in Africa? Remember to calculate beyond air tickets as cost, but visa fees, cost of staying for weeks or months, products, etc… Remember after birth-rights, they need to ‘rob’ more money for university fees and/or rent+. Remember about half of these ‘elite Kids’ may then stay in the west to develop there and send chicken change that journalists and politicians may wrongly see as benefit or good? Should we also consider denying such Africans citizenship?
Contrast that with annual building of multi-billion dollar universities in Africa as example and negotiating exchange students and exchange professors worldwide. It will mean the poor African student will have equal opportunity with the elite kid towards western or Asian university for one to four years; and the western or Asian kids will study in Africa, not just work in Africa… Remember countless African professors are in u.s+ universities, but will they volunteer or start a new mandatory program for exchange professors to be enacted to replace peace-corps? These marvelous ideas as alternatives are sadly ignored, because the top political leaders and business folks are too arrogant, too self centered, or too stupid except on how to deceive? I think the best of journalists must learn to partner-up beyond publishing. America did not develop by only political leaders starting government universities, but by private business folks and annual crowdfunding to start or maintain private universities. So do not just blame Trump, but let us support him to deny this group birth-rights, and even call on other countries to follow suit. Again, more important than the denial of ‘birth-rights’ by deceptions is how to educate and set up systems that will annually lead to countless universities and companies in poor countries. Search ‘International Open Chance Day’ by Jarga kebba Gigo, to learn more on that.
Conceive, Birth, and Tax: Both legal and illegal immigrants whose children were conceived in the u.s , who paid taxes, and gave birth in the u.s or any country should not be denied birth-rights, or we risk stateless children. Every country has the responsibility to guard its borders and carry out speedy trials. You cannot claim the refugee claimant should not have sex or consider children until their cases are decided. If Trump and his team argue those who were not conceived in the u.s but came legally as visitors to have birth-rights, then who is choosing to reward the culprits as political leaders and deny the victims who flee their countries due to lack of enough affordable universities and jobs? I am not opposed to certain exceptions as a favor, but those who were conceived and born in a country should not be ignored as a group… They called it a ‘birth certificate’, so conception may be hard to verify in some cases, but how many millions can still prove ‘conceived, born, and raised…?’
Trump is one-eye: Trump wrongly claims the birth-right was just for ‘slaves’, but I disagree. The Europeans who were not slaves enjoined such rights in and beyond the u.s for centuries. Trump wrongly claims only the u.s offers such rights, which is very wrong. Perhaps more than a dozen of countries offer it differently. Trump is also one-eyed in how immigrants ‘take jobs’, but blind to how immigrants give jobs beyond rent and other spendings, but even starting businesses to hire even u.s citizens. If you deport millions, you eliminate billions on spending and the economy… So you should learn how to fight Trump or he may over limit it with one-eye arguments.
Election Promises: It is very dumb for top journalists to claim ‘but he ran on so and so…’. Election promises can be very vague and should be seen as ‘free-speech’ that cannot be above the law or conscience. For example, Joe Rogan, a prominent podcaster , and Trump supporter, in the u.s recently said: ‘If we knew Trump is going to be going after workers [more than or instead of criminals], then none of us would have signed-up…’ So when Trump said murderers and rapists will be rounded up, it was just a deceptive campaign promise to the naive. Murderers and rapists of even u.s citizens are often hunted towards prison regardless of who you elect, then they get deported if they are not u.s citizens… local Police chiefs do that, they do not need ICE or the executive branch.
Politicians can dangerously misinterpret even the constitution, so certain illegal campaign promises must be stopped by any decent Judge or the supreme court. Beside legality, the u.s Supreme Court must not repeat its past mistakes of being complicit on vivid wrongs like legal slavery, or God’s curse be upon them and every guilty supporter.
Politicians can also dangerously appeal to the cowardly or arrogant wishes of the majority. If a presidential candidate ran on a campaign ‘I will oppose inter-racial marriage’, and s/he won, should any decent Judge continue to send people to prisons over inter-racial marriages? Few decades ago, most Americans opposed inter-racial marriages, they were a dangerous majority. Similarly, if a politician ran on making cannabis, alcohol, or xyz illegal, decent Judges and journalists must stand for personal rights, liberty, and never say: ‘well, S/he ran on it and was elected for that…’ People often vote as resort support, not because they agree with every promise or even believe you should or can fulfill such promises. In 2016, I supported Bernie Sanders, after his losing, I resorted to supporting Trump, including for the good campaign promises like legalising medical cannabis at the federal level. When Journalists claim Trump fulfills campaign promises, they wrongly focus on largely the negative ones, the punishment oriented ones. Trump tends not to fulfill good campaign promises like empowering campaign promises, like Graduates becoming citizens; nor choice oriented campaign promises like legalising cannabis. Instead he tries to cancel visas and deport even green card holders over truthful speech and deported a college graduate female student over the same cannabis he promised to legalize since 2016 and re-promised in 2024. When Trump spoke well of Assange, ‘I love Julian Assange’, but only to later hunt him worse than 3 u.s presidents, does that reveal hypocrisy and my take that negative or punishment oriented campaign promises are where Trump leans on fulfilling? Is the executive closest to punishment or He was too dumb, too blind, or too indisciplined to be a police chief, military general, or a Judge? Born a millionaire when u.s was much more corrupt, becomes a billionaire through questionable real estate and owning gambling houses that rob people; He had manipulated the media before and after his ascend to power, because it is ‘anti-Trump’ journalists that sometimes wrongly support him with excuses like ‘he ran on it’, under fight him, or over fight him? I told you Trump is a very hard test, so we must cautiously challenge him, including giving him his dues. In 2016, he also promised ‘banning Muslims’, which folks like me thought he dared not try it… A candidate makes 100 promises, you may support only 75 of them and how do you fight the ones you do not support? You can educate to change minds, use the courts, protest as battle, or tolerate where need be.
When the media reports ‘limit’ birth-rights, they are not necessarily wrong. However, when they read the comments or talk to people, they should help the mistaken. People claiming then ‘the children of Trump through foreign models’ should not be citizens? These people are in a panic mood or in distress that may affect their health. So adding things like: ‘limit, not eliminate’, will hint all legal immigrants will continue to enjoy birth-rights? Punishment obsessed Trump will likely try to oppose all illegal immigrants and/or even students who spoke against Israel or even Trump. So work hard to think who to defend and who not to defend. May God help a lot more and bless us a lot more through Showlove Trinity: Let’s learn, let’s work, let’s have fun.
By Jarga Kebba Gigo
An Activist and Transformer
Author of Juts Quhr-aahn.
