New Christian Conserv grp calls for end of birthright citizenship

[rodeodance]

------- Original Message --------
Subject: BERKOWITZ-New Christian Conserv grp calls for end of birthright citizenship
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 12:33:25 -0500 (EST)
From: [e-mail]
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Christian Conservatives call for end of 14th Amendment citizenship birthright

"Consistent with Christian teachings" deal would allow amnesty of illegals here who are relatives of citizens

Bill Berkowitz
January 16, 2007

http://www.mediatransparency.com/story.php?storyID=172

After months of being missing in action from the debate on the issue, a group of Christian conservatives are now staking out a position on immigration. Families First on Immigration, a coalition led by former Republican Party presidential hopeful Gary Bauer, who heads up a group called American Values, former Bush advisor to Catholic voters, Deal Hudson of the Morley Institute for Church & Culture, and David Keene of the American Conservative Union, are advancing what they call religiously grounded positions on immigration.

In early January, Families First on Immigration sent letters to President George W. Bush and to leaders of the new Democratic controlled Congress urging them "to adopt a grand compromise on the divisive issue that includes strong border security, an amnesty for illegals already here who are relatives of citizens and an end to birthright citizenship," the Washington Times reported.

"Our position really is consistent with Christian teachings and with the rule of law," said Manuel Miranda, chairman of the Third Branch Conference (as of January 9, the group's website "is currently under construction") a coalition of over 150 grasstop leaders, who has brought together more than 30 top shelf conservatives on this issue.

"Out of concern for keeping families together, the religious leaders propose granting citizenship to any illegal aliens in the country who are related to U.S. citizens. This would include anyone who has had a child born here, often referred to as an 'anchor baby,'" the Washington Times reported.

"In return, the federal government would end birthright citizenship, which automatically grants U.S. citizenship to anyone born here, regardless of his parents' legal status. The 14th Amendment says 'all persons born or naturalized in the United States ... are citizens of the United States.'"

Read the full story:

http://www.mediatransparency.com/story.php?storyID=172

[StoryTeller]

1. I don't quite understand...

Why do they want to get rid of birthright citizenship?

[maxrandb]

12. To Stop so-called Anchor Babies

Children born on our soil, even if the parents are "illegal" immigrants at the time of birth, are automatically citizens of the United States.

It's served our country very well for over 200 years and is one of the things that is written into the Constitution in such a way that not even "Fat Tony" over on the Supreme Court could justify taking it out. It would require a Constitutional Amendment to change the Constitution.

I think the framers of the Constitution put it in there to ensure that the citizenship of the poor and working class could not be taken away by the elites. It ensures that every person, regardless of stature, is guaranteed the rights that come with being a citizen of the United States.

It's no wonder the "Wing-nuts" hate birthright citizenship. They'd much prefer we were all serfs that the rich and powerful cold "lord over".

[Mrspeeker]

2. How about anyone born after today

cannot be apart of this world LOL

When will it end?

Good post!

[xxqqqzme]

3. Are they advocating giving the country back

to Native Americans? Just curious.

[BOSSHOG]

4. I don't give a fuck about christian teachings

bauer and his kind hate in the name of Jesus Christ. If they don't like how things are run in this country then can go away and form a theocracy elsewhere, where their hate will be the order of the day from day one. If they want to be productive they can start picking lettuce and cleaning up motel rooms.

[I_Will]

7. Isn't this similar to why the pilgrims came to this continent in the first place...

"If they don't like how things are run in this country then can go away and form a theocracy elsewhere, where their hate will be the order of the day from day one."

I don't disagree with you; it just sounds like history repeating itself. It seems Christians (sic) in particular have an absolute fetish with making the world in their own image.

[BOSSHOG]

8. I think it is very fair to say

that the early settlers jumped on their little ships and crossed a dangerous ocean to get away from the likes of gary bauer and james dobson and jerry falwell. Wow, that's what they did. We all know the intent of our forefathers when they set out to right the constitution.

[IndianaGreen]

17. I abhor anything that has the name "Christian" attached to it

I am so sick of these people that even when they have a meritorious idea deserving of debate, I go into a Pavlovian response.

[sharp_stick]

5. Why the hell do these "christian" whackjobs (language warning)

always call their fucking groups "family this or that". I've got a family, damned good one too and we want nothing to do these jackoffs. I'd like nothing more than to slap around "Dr." Dobson and his crew of cocksuckers.

Where in the bible does it talk about immigration reform? These people are idiots, plain and simple.

[maxrandb]

14. And why are they described as a "Christian" organization?

This doesn't sound very "Christ-like" to me.

[wakeme2008]

6. This would take a Const. Amendment to do

and that would never pass... Just a wet dream

[nickyt]

9. A quick search tells me "Bauer" is a nice German surname, "Miranda", a nice Spanish name,

who ARE these stupid fuckers?
"Our position really is consistent with Christian teachings..."? Oh, okay then.

[Vickers]

10. These whackjobs are just plain goofy. And shouldn't Bauer be described

as "pro-family albeit aide-fucking miserable failure of a presidential candidate" ???

[kineneb]

11. only if it can be made retroactive for the whackos

retroactive birthright citizenship revocation for the Dominionist crowd: so Bauer, etc. can be sent back to their "countries of origin"...

don't think they would do so well...
:evilgrin:

[rexcat]

13. It would require a constitutional change...

which is unlikely!

[Quetzal]

15. Manuel Miranda, I can't forget that name!

He was the one that fed the Democratic Senate Judiciary memos to the White House during the judicial nomination proceedings back in 2003. That creep got nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

[Hosnon]

16. Conceptually, I think that citizenship based on where you are born is

odd.

It make much more sense, to me, for citizenship to be determined by the parents, i.e., citizenship is something you carry with you and pass to your children.

From whom one is born seems like a better origin of citizenship than where one is born.

However, that notion is conceptual. I'm not sure if I think it would be a good idea in practice. And I certainly don't think territorial birthright is a bargaining chip to be exchanged for amnesty.

[salin]

18. make it retroactive and watch them squirm.

My mothers parents were here legally, from Norway, but not yet citizens when my Mother was born. Thus according to the logic - my mother shouldn't be a citizen. Now my father's immigrant families go back one more generation, so that it would be his parents that wouldn't be citizens - then depending on when he was born (whether or not they had already gained citizenship) he might not have been a citizen either. Now since they would all be 'noncitizens' - would they have been deported before gaining citizenship? I think many, many families have this kind of lineage. Thus when folks bring this back - it should be paired with a retroactive clause - make all of us who might not have been citizens not citizens of the country (if the parents had not been in the country long enough *under current rules* to have been granted citizenship, then the citizenship of the child born is stripped.)

Okay its not pracitcal - but if one plays with the idea, one does have to wrestle with some more complex situations than those who push this stuff are usually willing to think about.