Investor's Business Daily
January 18, 2011
NATIONAL EDITION

End Birthright Citizenship

In a recent On The Left column, "The Distraction of Birthright Citizenship," Edward Schumacher-Matos calls for a way to end illegal immigration but then demeans attempts to end the policy of birth citizenship that would reduce illegal immigration.

There is no doubt that employment in the U.S. is the main draw for illegal immigrants. However, U.S. citizenship for their children is also a huge motive to enter our country.

This past July, the Washington Post ran a front-page story about the "birth tourism" industry titled "For Many Pregnant Chinese, a U.S. Passport for Baby Remains a Powerful Lure." And while the couples in the article came here on legal visas, they did so solely because their child would have U.S. citizenship.

This same mentality spills over into the illegal immigrant population. Congress can and should act to end birth citizenship for three reasons:

1. No Supreme Court case has dealt directly with the offspring of illegal immigrants and the question of automatic citizenship.

2. The Constitution expressly gives Congress the power to decide national immigration policies.

3. During the debate on the 14th Amendment in 1866, the senator who was the author said it would "not of course include persons born in the United States who are foreigners."

Congress is long overdue in making sure the 14th Amendment is correctly interpreted.

In many large U.S. cities, such as Dallas, Houston and Los Angeles, nearly two-thirds of the births are to illegal immigrant mothers.

According to the Center for Immigration Studies, an estimated 380,000 expectant mothers crossed the border illegally in one year in hopes of giving birth in America. And this is all at a high cost to the American taxpayer.

Health care and social services for illegal immigrants cost Americans an estimated $1.1 billion per year.

Passing a law to eliminate birth citizenship will greatly help deter illegal immigration and reduce the burden on the taxpayer of paying for illegal immigrants' education, health care and other government benefits.

Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chairman, House Judiciary Committee

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