‘Birthright citizenship' under attack
By Michael Matza / The Philadelphia Inquirer
Published: March 08. 2011 4:00AM PST

PHILADELPHIA — Twelve years ago, Lizbeth Ramos and her common-law husband, Juan, left their hometown near Puebla, Mexico, and set out on foot for the Arizona border, to slip into new lives as illegal immigrants.

He found work in a produce market near Philadelphia, she in a boutique.

Now 30, she lies on an examination table in Pennsylvania Hospital, at an obstetrics clinic for immigrant women, no status questions asked. As a doctor slides an ultrasound wand over her bulging belly, her eyes are transfixed by the monitor. She is carrying twins.

The moment they enter the world, they will be what their parents are not: U.S. citizens.

Such is their birthright, granted by the 14th Amendment to an estimated 340,000 babies born annually to undocumented immigrants.

But in the marathon fight over immigration control, that 143-year-old constitutional guarantee has become the latest target — and the delivery room the new front. The pejorative “anchor babiesâ€