Thread: TX: Berman proposing bill to remove automatic citizenship of

Berman proposing bill to remove automatic citizenship of children born in U.S.
Updated: Oct 27, 2008 04:13 PM PDT

Illegal aliens cost Texas taxpayers $4 billion a year, much of that on healthcare.

State Representative Leo Berman says he has a plan to save you money, and part of it focuses on changing the U.S. Constitution. But, as KLTV 7's Molly Reuter shows us, not everyone feels the issue of immigration should fall in the hands of the state.

Under federal law, free healthcare was given to 70 percent of the babies born at Parkland hospital in Dallas, their parents - illegal aliens.


"One of the main attractions to an illegal woman is when she is in her 9 month of pregnancy, she can check into any Texas hospital, go through pre-natal care, deliver a child and receive U.S. citizenship, while paying nothing for the medical care," said Rep. Leo Berman.

Berman says Parkland is just one example where Texas taxpayers are paying millions on illegal aliens.

We checked with East Texas Medical Center and Mother Frances Hospital. Both say they do not keep those kind of records.

In January, Berman says he will file a bill that restricts citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants born at public hospitals. Instead, Berman says the child will be issued a notice of birth with instructions to get the same citizenship as their parents.

"It's going to stop the benefit that attracts people to Texas hospitals where they actually want to give birth, so their child can be a U.S. citizen," said Berman.

Immigration lawyer Jose Sanchez says that violates the U.S. Constitution.

"The constitution itself and the 14th amendment states that every person that's born in this country, or is naturalized is a citizen, and a state can't pass something that makes them an uncitizen," said Sanchez. "We are trying to punish them for the faults of their parents. That just doesn't make sense."

Berman says he understands that, but welcomes the federal court to step in.

"We want someone to sue us, to get into the Federal Court system where our Attorney General can take this all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court where someone can finally say the constitution and the 14th amendment does not apply to illegal aliens at all," said Berman - forcing the hand of government to take this sensitive issue out of the state's hands.

Berman says state representatives will be proposing around 30 bills this legislative session dealing with illegal aliens.

We want to know if you believe children born in the U.S. should receive automatic citzenship. You can find that poll question on the homepage of KLTV.com or at the top of this story.
(note - putting the poll in our poll section)

http://www.kltv.com/global/story.asp?s=9247447

Do you believe that children born in the US should receive automatic citizenship without regard to their parents' citizenship status?
Yes, automatic citizenship is a right guaranteed under the Constitution and shouldn't be tampered with. No, citizenship is a privilege and should be earned, regardless of who your parents are.


Thank you for participating in our poll. Here are the results so far. Yes, automatic citizenship is a right guaranteed under the Constitution and shouldn't be tampered with. 27%
No, citizenship is a privilege and should be earned, regardless of who your parents are. 73%

Go vote! ....yes you can.....

PLEASE...GO VOTE! IT IS EASY!



KLTV 7 Poll

Do you believe that children born in the US should receive automatic citizenship without regard to their parents' citizenship status?

Yes, automatic citizenship is a right guaranteed under the Constitution and shouldn't be tampered with. No, citizenship is a privilege and should be earned, regardless of who your parents are.

thank you for participating in our poll. Here are the results so far. Yes, automatic citizenship is a right guaranteed under the Constitution and shouldn't be tampered with. 26%

No, citizenship is a privilege and should be earned, regardless of who your parents are. 74%

Immigration lawyer Jose Sanchez says that violates the U.S. Constitution.

"The constitution itself and the 14th amendment states that every person that's born in this country, or is naturalized is a citizen, and a state can't pass something that makes them an uncitizen," said Sanchez. "We are trying to punish them for the faults of their parents. That just doesn't make sense

Jose Sanchez conveniently forgot about the second prong of the 14th Amendment related to citizenship which, in addition to being born on US soil, must also be, "subject to the jurisdiction thereof."

I find it difficult to imagine how two illegal invaders can satisfy this requirement, resulting in US citizenship for their anchor babies. This issue does need to go all the way to the Supreme Court to be decided once and for all. The Constitution does not necessarily need to be amended, just interpreted correctly!

I highly doubt this is what our founding fathers had in mind!

Poll: Do you believe children born in the US should receive automatic citizenship without regard to thier parents' citizenship status?

Yes - automatic citizenship is a right guaranteed under the Constitution: 26%

No - citizenship is a privilege which must be earned: 74%

Just wonder how many of those voting for birthright citizenship are illegals or children of illegals themselves.