Rep. Steve King
WASHINGTON – Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, introduced H.R. 140, titled the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2013, to amend Section 301 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to clarify those classes of individuals born in the United States who are nationals and citizens of the United States at birth.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has introduced a companion bill in the Senate.
If passed, the bill will insert clarification language for the term birthright citizenship, as established by the U.S. Constitution, by adding: “(b) Definition – Acknowledging the right of birthright citizenship established by section 1 of the 14th amendment of the Constitution, a person born in the United States shall be considered ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ of the United states for the purpose of subsection (a)(1) if the person is born in the United States of parents, one of whom is –
“(1) a citizen of national of the United States;
“(2) an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States whose residence is in the United States; or
“(3) an alien performing active service in the armed forces (as defined in section 101 of title 10, United States Code).”
The law would not affect the nationality status of any person born before the enactment of the act.
The current policy, which many say is a misinterpretation of the 14th Amendment, encourages women to enter the country illegally to give birth and gain citizenship for their “anchor babies,” which sets off the chain migration for the entire family.
Because many who enter the country illegally are poor they become eligible for numerous taxpayer funded welfare benefits due to the citizenship status of their children.
The United States and Canada are the only two developed nations that still offer automatic citizenship to children born in their country, while other developed nations have ended that practice.
However, there are arguments over what the clause “under the jurisdiction” means.
King’s legislation, which he also introduced in 2011, clarifies the meaning.
Commenting on the rise in birth tourism last year, Center for Immigration Studies Executive Director Mark Krikorian said, “What we're doing is conferring citizenship on people who don't have a connection to this country. The idea that visitors from abroad who intentionally come to give birth to U.S. citizens would have been considered absurd by the framers of the [14th] Amendment.”
NumbersUSA is sponsoring a letter writing/fax campaign so people may contact their representatives in Washington and urge them to support this legislation.
NumbersUSA is concerned with overpopulation and notes how the 1990s saw the biggest population boom in U.S. history.
Considering it’s been three decades since Americans seemed to concur that the country was “mature and probably already overpopulated,” NumbersUSA stated, “No wonder Americans became increasingly alarmed at their deteriorating quality of life due to sprawl, congestion, overcrowded schools, lost open spaces and increasing restrictions on their individual liberty caused by the new population explosion.”
A comment on their website from Diane5799 of California said, “Stop all immigration. Too many people here now. True immigration would be a number from each country, not an invasion from Mexico.”
