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An alien concept?

Tuesday, January 17, 2006



Copyright © 2006 Republican-American

As if the invasion over the years of 12 million illegal immigrants isn't a big enough problem, an issue gaining steam in Congress is the citizen status of the children born to those invaders.


Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., tried to introduce a measure that would deny automatic citizenship to such children. His proposal was blocked by GOP leaders. Rep. Deal promised to raise the proposal again.

The government has been granting citizenship to children born in the United States of illegal alien parents under a provision of the 14th Amendment: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States ... are citizens of the United States." Those who would deny citizenship argue that in 1868, the authors of this provision were thinking of freed slaves and not people who were in the country illegally. They contend the provision has been misinterpreted for years.

Rep. Deal believes granting citizenship to the children by reason of their birth here serves as a "huge magnet" for foreign women in the last stages of pregnancy. Ira Mehlman of the Federation of American Immigration Reform says, "Most Americans feel it doesn't make any sense for people to come into the country illegally, give birth, and have a new U.S. citizen."

According to the nonpartisan Rasmussen Reports, 49 percent of Americans are opposed to granting automatic citizenship; only 41 percent favor it. Other polls suggest most Americans want border security tightened to keep the illegals out in the first place.

What troubles many, including those who are unhappy over America's loose borders, is the denial of citizenship punishes the child for the parents' unlawful activities. Of course, it could be argued the children have full citizenship rights of the country their parents came from. And denying these children U.S. citizenship does not equate with holding back essential health care or social services; it simply eliminates an incentive for their parents to break the law.