Lawmaker's 'Birthright' Fight

Intelligencer Journal/New Era
January 10, 2011
Lancaster, PA

A state representative from Pennsylvania is leading the national group of state lawmakers in an effort to eliminate birthright citizenship - automatic citizenship for U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants.

State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) and legislators from 47 states are preparing what they call model legislation to correct the "misapplication" of the 14th Amendment to the U.S.Constitution.

The 14th Amendment grants citizenship to the child regardless of the mother's nationality or immigration status. The amendment was passed in 1868 in the wake of the Civil War, principally to confer citizenship on freed slaves only.

Metcalfe's group plans to circulate the model legislation among the states, along with a legal document called a "compact."

A compact allows states to band together to propose solutions to federal problems - in this case, illegal immigration. Solutions then can be implemented, subject to congressional approval.

The group's compact calls for participating states "to make a distinction" in birth certificates between children born to mothers here legally and those whose mothers entered here illegally. The latter would not be covered by the 14th Amendment, under the proposal.

The proposal also will require a mother to prove her immigration or citizenship status before getting a birth certificate for her baby.

The effort by Metcalfe and his group represents a change in strategy for opponents of birthright citizenship, which grants citizenship to children born on U.S. soil, regardless of the country of origin of the mother.

The new strategy is designed to draw some legal challenges and get the issue before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The group undertook the effort because the U.S. Congress has been "AWOL for decades" on illegal immigration reform,' says Metcalfe.

Some 340,000 children were born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants in 2008, according a study by the Pew Hispanic Center. Thousands more were born to tourists and foreign students.

These "anchor babies" make it possible for illegal aliens to remain in the United States.

In other cases, soon-to-be mothers cross the border with the intention of giving birth in America. Once the child is born and issued an American birth certificate, mother and child return to the parent's home country. Called "drop and leave," this strategy ensures that the child, once grown, can come to the U.S. for an education - and he can bring the rest of his family.

Metcalfe and his group have drawn criticism from civil rights groups, who claim the state lawmakers are motivated by racism toward Latino immigrants.

But Latino parents - ones who are born here or who are here legally - place a much higher value of U.S. citizenship than that which comes by birth alone.

Likewise, legal experts say the proposal may not stand a chance of passing constitutional muster. But they can't be sure.

Metcalfe and his group will persevere.

Their proposal would solve about 85% of the nation's immigration crisis and it would remove a huge incentive for illegal immigrants to give birth in this country as a way to guarantee U.S. citizenship - and all the perquisites and benefits that come with it.

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