Thread: Lawmaker's 'Birthright' Fight

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.

http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/En ... 47&start=1

LULAC Decries State Efforts to Violate the 14th Amendment

January 5, 2011

Contact: Lizette Olmos, (202) 833-6130

Anti-immigrant legislators seek to create permanent underclass of easily exploitable workers with no civil rights or occupational protections in perpetuity

WASHINGTON- The League of United Latin American Citizens, this country’s largest and oldest Hispanic civil rights organization, today denounced efforts by a handful of state legislators to violate the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution with various illegal big government schemes to deny citizenship to all children born in the United States.

“LULAC strongly opposes efforts by some state legislators to violate the 14th amendment and to deny citizenship to children born in the United States,â€

Added to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/article-5991--0-0.html

lulac sucks, how in the world can the 14th amendment pertain to illegal aliens. There is no possible way the founders wanted someone to come here illegally and have a child and make that child a citizen. No way, I will never believe that. No mater what, illegal alien children born here should have their citizenship stripped and then deport them all with their illegal alien parents

Good it was never meant to allow Mexicans to come drop babies on the taxpayers dime.

One of the many "crimes" the government got away with because the American public did not realize what was really going on and how bad its was being abused.

Like robbing a bank and then being "happy, celebrating" because you get to keep the money.

Originally Posted by Dave-co

lulac sucks, how in the world can the 14th amendment pertain to illegal aliens. There is no possible way the founders wanted someone to come here illegally and have a child and make that child a citizen. No way, I will never believe that. No mater what, illegal alien children born here should have their citizenship stripped and then deport them all with their illegal alien parents

NO, THE 14TH AMENDMENT WAS NEVER MEANT TO COVER ILLEGAL ALIENS AND THEIR SPAWN. BUT THEY ARE STEALING IT LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE THEY STEAL. THEY DON'T LIKE AFRICAN=AMERICANS BUT THEY SURE DON'T MIND TAKING FROM OUR LEGACY AND USING IT AS THEIR OWN. THESE PEOPLE MAKE ME SICK TO THE CORE AND, THIS BIRTH RIGHT CITIZENSHIP SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN GIVEN TO THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE. THEY WERE IN NO WAY A PART OF SLAVERY AND THIS SHOULD IN NO WAY BE A FACTOR IN THEIR AGENDA IMO THE NAACP SHOULD BE SPEAKING OUT AGAINST THIS BUT INSTEAD OF THEM DOING THAT, THEY ARE BACKING THEM. HOW UTTERLY STUPID THESE PEOPLE ARE.

Originally Posted by Dave-co

lulac sucks, how in the world can the 14th amendment pertain to illegal aliens. There is no possible way the founders wanted someone to come here illegally and have a child and make that child a citizen. No way, I will never believe that. No mater what, illegal alien children born here should have their citizenship stripped and then deport them all with their illegal alien parents

YOU ARE DOG ON RIGHT THEY SHOULD HAVE THEIR CITIZENSHIP STRIPPED JUST LIKE AMERICAN CITIZENS WHEN EVER THEY ARE CONVICTED OF A FELONY THEY ARE STRIPPED OF THEIR CITIZENSHIP. NOW IF THEY CAN DO THAT TO ONE OF THEIR OWN, THEN WHY NOT DO IT TO ILLEGAL ANCHOR BABIES

Anti-immigrant legislators seek to create permanent underclass of easily exploitable workers with no civil rights or occupational protections in perpetuity

Not so, because as stated in the previous article, denying anchor babies citizenship will remove the incentive to come to the U.S. in the first place. Thus, the illegal alien population won't "grow every year in perpetuity" in the U.S. if we succeed in restoring the 14th amendment.

I love how LULAC words everything as if they could do no wrong, and we are somehow evil for saying that citizenship should not be passed out like candy, and foreigners be required to take an oath to the U.S. and only the U.S., if they want to be citizens.

Article 5 of the 14th amendment does NOT grant citizenship to children of foreign ambassadors or ILLEGAL ALIENS. 14th amend does not need to be ratified, just ENFORCED. Good legal article on Mark Levin website

Anti-immigrant legislators seek to create permanent underclass of easily exploitable workers with no civil rights or occupational protections in perpetuity

No, the open borders crowd has already done that by encouraging poor and illiterate Latinos to enter our country in order to take low paying jobs with no benefits.