A few days ago President Trump tweeted that those who enter the United States without documentation should be immediately deported without appearing before a judge. There’s only one problem with that: the Fourteenth Amendment in the U.S. Constitution. Here’s what it says:

No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Two years ago next month then candidate Trump was asked if he has read the Constitution by the father of slain soldier Captain Humayun Khan. Clearly he has not. So Mr. Trump, let me school you.

This first section of the amendment is often called the “Due Process Clause.” This amendment became part of the Constitution on July 28, 1868 in the aftermath of the Civil War. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery but that didn’t go far enough. The Fourteenth insured that the newly freed slaves were granted citizenship by virtue of being born in the United States, but the amendment went further. It states that “any person” in the United States is protected from having life, liberty or property taken without due process. Not just citizens. Not just those here with documentation. Not just people we like. Not just people who look like us. Any person means just that: any person.

The president wants us to believe that those who come to our country without documentation want to hurt or destroy us. He’s a liar. Those who show up at our border are fleeing violence in their home countries. They are fleeing abusive relationships, drug violence, or worse. They want nothing more than a chance to live in a nation that protects everyone, that allows them to work hard to give their children better than they have. They seek the very things we take for granted. You can read an excellent article here about those seeking asylum.

We are a generous nation who has welcomed the ancestors of nearly everyone who reads this blog. This nation accepted all my ancestors who came here from Canada and Ireland. I live the American dream because of them. I pray they are proud of what I’ve been able to do.

And I suspect the president’s ancestors are horrified by him.