June 8, 2009
"Anchor babies" not protected under 14th amendment, says commissioner.

A county leader says automatic citizenship issue is "ripe for litigation."

County Commissioner Bill James cited opinions among members of congress and some legal think tanks when he wrote me last week saying U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants should not be granted automatic citizenship.

He was responding to my story about U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal of Georgia and his efforts to change a federal policy that automatically grants citizenship to any baby born on U.S. soil. He and his supporters feel the current policy encourages illegal immigration and makes immigration enforcement more difficult.

James supports the effort, but questions whether the policy needs to be changed. He argues it was “never written to include everyone born in America.â€