Citizenship-By-Birth Faces Challenges

[Ed Barrow]

Source: NPR

In what might be the next great flash point in the nation's ongoing debate about immigration policy, legislation has been introduced in Congress and a pair of states to deny birth certificates to babies born of illegal-immigrant parents.

"Currently, if you have a child born to two alien parents, that person is believed to be a U.S. citizen," says Randy Terrill, a Republican state representative in Oklahoma who is working on an anti-birthright bill. "When taken to its logical extreme, that would produce the absurd result that children of invading armies would be considered citizens of the U.S."

Bills to challenge the fact that citizenship is granted as a birthright in this country have been perennial nonstarters in Congress, although the current legislation has 91 co-sponsors. As with other issues surrounding immigration, however, some state legislatures still might act, if only in hopes of bringing this issue before the Supreme Court.

"That was the primary purpose of the bill, for someone to sue us in federal court, and let's resolve this issue once and for all," says Texas state Rep. Leo Berman, a Republican who has introduced a bill to deny birth certificates to the newborn children of illegal immigrants. "I believe we are giving away 350,000 citizens a year to children born to illegal aliens."

Read more: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127093634

[Taverner]

1. They will need an ammendment for that

[kristopher]

2. No it doesn't.

It faces Teabagging rhetoric.

[hobbit709]

3. Wouldn't that be against the Constitution?

Namely the 14th Amendment

[The Croquist]

9. Yes it is

Amendment XIV - Citizenship Rights

1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. 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.

[gmpierce]

40. It ain't necessarily so...

The Rights and Privileges clause of the 14th Amendment was trashed by the Supreme Court in 1873. (The Slaughterhouse Cases).

At least a dozen times a year I see it quoted by people who actually believe that the Constitution and its amendments actually mean what the words say.

Once you turn the lawyers loose, nothing means what it says.

[ck4829]

13. The 14th Amendment is enemy #1 for many far right wingers

This is just an effort to chip away at it.

[treestar]

55. You betcha

The due process clause being used to make the Bill of Rights apply to the states - limiting states' rights more, and the Equal Protection Clause - that clause must kill them - they don't want everyone to be equal before the law.

[Posteritatis]

38. I think there's a competition to see who can push the unconstitutionallest laws lately. (nt)

[tanyev]

4. Hey, since they say that fetuses are people, doesn't that mean that any baby conceived

in the good ol' US of A is automagically an American citizen?

[BootinUp]

5. I don't believe they will succeed. nt

[EFerrari]

6. Children of invading armies -- like the children of the Founders?

LOL

[Historic NY]

7. Confederates.

[madrchsod]

8. "i believe we are giving away 350,000 citizens......."

where does one give away citizens?

[jberryhill]

27. I guess they prefer that these children be auctioned? /nt

[Lance_Boyle]

48. At the Northern border, if you're Mexico. n/t

[BadgerKid]

10. Wonder what they think of foreign students giving birth while on their visas. n/t

[liberation]

14. You mean like Michelle Malkin's parents?

[BadgerKid]

Not particularly; I didn't know.

I just happened to know from my conversations with Chinese-born students that having a baby is a definite goal. It's my understanding they view US citizenship with prestige in and of itself, but they are well aware of future opportunities for bettering the lives of their relatives by essentially buying their passageway into this country.

[treestar]

41. They are here legally and can have as many kids as they want!

It is not "buying" their way in. They are legally here and if they have kids while here, those kids are native born citizens.

and they would still have to leave when their visas are up.

[BadgerKid]

45. Yes, that's fine by me.

"Buying" refers to the fees associated with bringing your family members here after you have gotten your green card.

I think everyone is simply wanting what they think is a better life.

[msanthrope]

35. And Bobby Jindal's, too.....n/t

[totodeinhere]

23. They are concentrating on the children of undocumented parents.

A child conceived by someone who is here on a bona fide student visa would have no problem.

But in general, I wouldn't worry about this so much except that it shows to what ends some people are willing to go. Never in a million years would a constitutional amendment on this issue ever pass.

[jberryhill]

28. Bobby Jindall for one /nt

[golfguru]

43. Jindal's parents were here legally

I think they are after kids born to illegals only.

[jberryhill]

53. DU lesson 443 - threaded comments

My response was to:

"Wonder what they think of foreign students giving birth while on their visas"

[Downwinder]

11. If my great great grandmother was not a US citizen, are they going to deport

me to Scotland.

[golfguru]

44. If she came here legally, then you have zero problem n/t

[treestar]

50. The point is fourth generation illegal immigrants

and why should children not be citizens when it's their parents that did the legal violation?

[joeglow3]

54. I agree. However, when the parents are shipped off, don't say you are breaking up families

It is the PARENTS who made the decision to break up the family and not the government. They are strongly encourage to take their child back with them. However, if the choose to abandon there child here, that was their decision.

[HopeHoops]

12. Don't these people have anything BETTER to do with their time?

Maybe, just maybe, if they discovered monogamous sex, that would cure their obsession with all the sex that other people are having.

[liberation]

15. The teabaggers still have to discover sex altogether before they can move on to the monogamous kind

I heard some of them are still waiting for the stork to deliver their families...

[liberation]

16. Du-du-dupe

Damn chrome POS

[Gormy Cuss]

17. Racist xenophobes, unite!

:banghead:

That quote about giving away citizens? If the idiot actually said that, let's check his papers because it's clear that English isn't his first language.

[Liberal Veteran]

18. In other news: Right wingers to gather and discuss possible acceptance of fire and agriculture

Vapors and Astrology have been tabled as too futuristic.

[boppers]

20. Wasn't fire invented by foreigners, though?

That'll be an interesting floor debate.

[Liberal Veteran]

30. And agriculture leads to society which sounds an awful lot like "socialism"!

[Posteritatis]

37. Yeah. "Prometheus?" Sounds French! (nt)

[TransitJohn]

19. "Believed to be"?????

What a fucking dipshit. The Constitution says they are. End of story.

[X_Digger]

21. What.. the.. frack?!?

Amendment XIV

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

It takes a heck of a contorted reading of that text to *ahem* attempt to deny citizenship of someone born in the US.

[DGG]

26. They try to misrepresent the "jurisdiction" clause

It's useful to know that when the 14th Amendment is pointed out to these bozos, they claim that illegal immigrants don't count because it applies only to those "subject to the jurisdiction" of the U.S., and frequently quote something written by one of the principal authors of the Amendment that they claim supports that reading. In fact, the very statement they quote makes it clear that the "subject to the jurisdiction" rule is meant to exclude only persons holding diplomatic immunity. That is, if foreign diplomats have children in the U.S., those children are not citizens under the 14th Amendment. What's amusing about the crank reinterpretation that the exception also applies to illegal immigrants is that they're saying illegal immigrants are not "subject to the jurisdiction" of the U.S. and hence in effect have diplomatic immunity!

[X_Digger]

32. Talk about unintended consequences! LOL!! n/t

[demigoddess]

22. next thing you know they will want to give citizenship only by income level

Once upon a time, only land owners could vote. They already want to take the vote away from women and black men. how much more of the constitution are they going to wipe out???

[one_voice]

24. Good Lord...

don't give them any ideas. :-)

[Unvanguard]

25. So they openly support the establishment of a caste system.

Nice.

[struggle4progress]

29. Republicans attacking 14th Amendment. We fought a Civil War to get that one, you racist fugs

[Omar4Dems]

52. So, we've come full circle

The amendment was crafted by...Republicans.

[Warren Stupidity]

31. What court could possibly find such legislation constitutional?

Oh wait...

[truthisfreedom]

33. "the absurd result that children of invading armies would be... citizens of the U.S." Excuse me?

Children of invading armies? What planet were you born on, sir? When do armies have time to have babies? After they win the war, maybe? So then, what the fuck does United States mean? Taken to a logical extreme, sir, you are an idiot of the nth degree.

[EFerrari]

34. He had to get "invading" in there somehow. n/t

[calimary]

36. "...and let's resolve this issue once and for all"??? Excuse m? Seems to me Roe v Wade

was also settled in the courts, it's settle law. So why are we still monkeying around with it?

[treestar]

39. No, it doesn't

It's in the constitution.

[defendandprotect]

42. Thought RW already did this . . . and it's a sick idea --

[mbperrin]

46. You can't fix stupid.

Ron White is right.

[Veruca Salt]

47. So they want to change the US from jus soli to jus sanguinis

pretty much overturning one of the cornerstones of the US.

All right guys, everyone not of Native American descent will have to leave the country.

[Demeter]

49. Teh Stupid! It Burns!

I'm sorry I clicked on this thread. A plague on ALL your houses!

[treestar]

51. The Randy Terrill quote just says aliens

I bet that's the way he feels about it, too. Probably even green card holders. The kids should just get green cards. I would not be surprised.

these people are idiots.

[The Stranger]

56. From now on, you have to be White to be a citizen. Even if you're born here.

:sarcasm: