OFFLINE

WASHINGTON -- The battle over immigration moved to a fresh front today as conservative state lawmakers offered up a new strategy to strip U.S. citizenship from babies born to those in the country illegally.

Calling themselves State Legislators for Legal Immigration, officials from five states offered up "model legislation to correct the monumental misapplication of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution."

Speaking at a packed news conference at the National Press Club that was disrupted several times by protesters, Republican legislators from Pennsylvania, Georgia, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Arizona -- ground zero in the fight over illegal immigration -- said they timed their announcement for today's opening of Congress.

"We are here to send a very public message to Congress," said Pennsylvania state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, the coalition's founder. "We want to bring an end to the illegal-alien invasion that is having such a negative impact on our states."

The lawmakers unveiled two measures they said would be introduced in at least 14 state legislatures this year to deal with what some call "anchor babies." One defines a "citizen of the state" as a person who has at least one parent who is living in the country legally. The other is a "compact" that urges Congress to redefine U.S. citizenship along the same lines.

Both measures, which if passed could cause widespread confusion by creating a patchwork of definitions of citizenship, are the handiwork of Kansas Secretary of State-elect Kris Kobach, a University of Missouri law professor who also authored Arizona's strict immigration law.

By his interpretation, the 14th Amendment's reference to citizens being those "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" the United States disqualifies the children of undocumented immigrants because their parents owe no loyalty to this country.

"The primary requirements for U.S. citizenship are dependent on total allegiance to America, not mere physical geography," Metcalfe said. "The purpose of this model legislation is to restore the original intent of the 14th Amendment, which is currently being misapplied and is encouraging illegal aliens to cross and cost American taxpayers $113 billion annually, or nearly $1,117 yearly per individual taxpayer."

Most legal scholars say the jurisdiction phrase was intended to apply to the children of diplomats posted in the United States.


now as a conservative, i disagree with this action. i find it incredibly dangerous to start stripping americans of their citizenship, over something they have no control over.

i think this is really a matter of desperation, but it's the wrong way of approaching the problem, not to mention a PR nightmare. pass laws going after employers of illegal immigrants (who, let's face it, are exploiting their labor and dodging taxes), and secure the border. you have to make it harder to sneak into the country illegally and undermine the reason for doing so, rather than attacking a mere symptom of the true problem.

OFFLINE

good post dod.

OFFLINE

thanks dod

OFFLINE

no problem handsome. stay sexy!

OFFLINE

we'll do, good lookin.

OFFLINE

Well, that was a good post!  I dont agree with all of it though.  

I do agree with the need to go after the employers of illegals.  I think we'd get further by fining and maybe jailing some of these employers than by kicking in doors and rounding up illegals.  I really think the jobs would dry up if we did that.

I am also for letting an immigrant who would serve honorably in our military get on the Fast Track to citizenship.

But....

I want to strip so-called 'anchor babies' of automatic citizenship.  The 14th Amendment was included to rectify the situation we had back with Dred Scott vs. Sandford.   Prior to the passage of the 14th amendment, the court held that no person of African descent, slave or free, could ever be a citizen of the United States nor could any of their descendants ever be a citizen.

So the 14th Amendment was there to address a slavery issue.  It was Never meant to allow illegal immigrants to use a loophole and bypass the normal methods of citizenship.  It did not deal with the issue of immigration. There was unrestricted immigration to the United States at that time. So by definition no illegal immigrants.

So I dont like the whole Anchor babies issue.  It (the loophole) needs to be eliminated.  This does not mean they can never be citizens btw.  It just eliminates the option of illegals crossing the border to have their kids here and giving them all the rights of natural born citizens.

Too many illegal immigrants come into this country specifically to have a baby and hope to use that so-called anchor baby to get the whole family in.  Each of these babies becomes an anchor who retards deportation of illegal parents—and who eventually will be an anchor for entire families and villages as chain migration leads to the immigration of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Hospitals bear the costs when illegal immigrants enter the country for the express purpose of giving birth.  So what?  So, they pass this cost on to taxpayers and charge insured patients more.  Thats what.

But illegal immigrants also use emergency rooms, public roads, and public schools. In many cases they are able to obtain Medicaid, food stamps, public housing, and even unemployment benefits. Some have fraudulently collected Social Security benefits.

Anchor babies can get govt grants to go to college.  That means chances are even more that YOU cannot get that grant.  further...as a taxpayer, you paid for that person to get the grant ahead of you.  How ironic is that?

The United States and Canada are the only two developed nations, as determined by the World Bank, to still grant automatic citizenship to all children born in the country.  But the Supreme Court has ruled only that the Constitution requires babies of legal immigrants be U.S. citizens.

I want our govt to eliminate Sanctuary cities.  Period.  Anyone govt official who declines to turn illegals (if found) over to INS should be prosecuted and fined severely.

I dont think that we should allow Fed govt funds to pay for education for illegals.  State funds may be another matter, but there again, you run into the Sanctuary cities issue if States do this.

I am for an E-verify system.

Only immigrants with green card status should be allowed to have an American drivers' license.

Our nation has soaring debt and unemployment right now.  And we want to take on a bigger burden by allowing illegals to use a loophole to gain entry into our country and use our services...then send the money back home to stimulate another country's economy?   Are you kidding me?

Man, we gotta get a handle on this mess.

OFFLINE

really, this is almost like punishing a child because the federal government didn't do it's job in keeping the border secure. i do understand that there is  some legal standing for this, and that it's a practice to endow citizenship on those born here, rather than a law or a right. but with my skepticism of government, i just can't get behind it deciding that being born here isn't good enough anymore. and really, this won't solve the problem of illegal immigration. as i said, it's just a symptom. i can see both sides though.

OFFLINE

Well, we're not saying the child can never, ever become a citizen though.   That would be punishing the child imo.

There was a case recently where an Arab family got permits to temporarily work in the USA.  While here, they had a child.  Then they took the child back to wherever they came from (Saude I think).  The child was not raised to care about American customs, tradition, was not raised as an American period.

He was captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan by US forces, detained at Guantanamo Bay and apparently hated the USA.  So when it came time to decide what to do with him, it was revealed he was born in the USA.  The media and lawyers immediately demanded he be given US citizenship status and the whole case got bogged down.

This was a man who hated America!  A man that was trying to kill Americans!  Trying to harm our country.  And yet, because he was born here and spent probably 3 months of his life here, he tried to use our laws to protect himself.

That aint right.  

OFFLINE

but to be fair, there are also plenty of american citizens joining in jihad.

OFFLINE

Originally Posted by Dødherre Mørktre:
we'll do, good lookin.

OFFLINE

Originally Posted by Dødherre Mørktre:
but to be fair, there are also plenty of american citizens joining in jihad.

There are nuts everywhere.  Look at what happened in Arizona.