The ideas that formed the Constitution, Part 20: Vattel and the Law of Nations
During the 17th and 18th centuries, five great scholars forged international law into its modern shape. The American Founders relied on their work.
The source of federal power to stop illegal immigration
Instead of speculating on the issue, II’s Senior Fellow actually examined books of international law widely used among the founding generation.
Understanding the Constitution: The Power to Restrict Immigration
The Constitution gives Congress power to “define and punish” offenses against the law of nations. Scholars popular among the Founders wrote that illegal immigration is such an offense.
Biden and Harris flout constitutional immigration duties
Controlling the border is a constitutional mandate, not an option
The Define and Punish Clause doesn’t authorize vast federal power either
Legal commentators have spread a good deal of ink trying to show that the Constitution authorizes the enormous expansion of the federal government since the 1930s. Leading the way have been some associated—as professors, students, or alumni—with the most privileged educational institutions: Harvard, Yale, Chicago, and so forth. Their publications inflated the Commerce Clause to […]
Where Congress’s Power to Regulate Immigration Comes From
Congress’s power to regulate immigration comes from the law of nations—the meaning of which many constitutional commentators are unfamiliar.
