June 11, 2007 - 12:00AM
Respect for the law, not amnesty, is the answer


Mike Parker
FREE PRESS CORRESPONDANT
I have not written about immigration reform because, frankly, I thought immigration reform legislation was a train wreck that had left the station without hope of recall. Recent Senate action has given me hope.

In an 1823 letter that Thomas Jefferson wrote to William Johnson, the author of the Declaration of Independence and one of the chief architects of our Republic said:

"Laws are made for men of ordinary understanding and should, therefore, be construed by the ordinary rules of common sense. Their meaning is not to be sought for in metaphysical subtleties which may make anything mean everything or nothing at pleasure."

Let's apply a few laws of common sense to our current problem with illegal aliens. The term "illegal alien" means that a person from another country has entered our nation without proper legal authorization.

No amount of Orwellian double-speak, such as "undocumented worker," changes the fact that the alien in question has broken our laws. The common sense approach to dealing with "illegal aliens" is to punish them according to our laws - and then deport them to their nations of origin.

I fully understand why people from other nations want to come to the United States. America is still the land of opportunity for those who have a genuine work ethic. Many "illegals" have a strong work ethic, and I commend them for their willingness to work diligently in a nation that rewards hard work.

Still, no one - regardless of work ethic - has the right to be in the United States illegally.

If we do not like current immigration laws, then we should revise them. However, until revisions completed and have the force of law, we must abide by laws in place.

Lax security at our borders combined with lax enforcement of laws has produced another problem: Many illegal aliens who are women are having babies in the United States.

For some reason, we commonly believe any baby born in the United States is a U.S. citizen.

Where does that piece of twisted logic come from?

If I had been living in France or Germany when one of my children were born, my child would still be a U.S. citizen - because I am a U.S. citizen.

Common sense dictates that the citizenship of children born in the U.S. must follow the citizenship of at least one parent. If a child's father or mother is a U.S. citizen, then the child born to that parent is a U.S. citizen. In cases of questionable paternity, then citizenship should follow the mother's citizenship.

I mention this issue because as recently as 2002, roughly 23 percent of children born in the United States were born to illegal aliens.

To overrule common sense, we must find some constitutional mandate saying children of illegal aliens born in the United States are automatically citizens. The plain fact is nothing in our constitution grants such citizenship.

Someone is sure to point to the language of Section 1 of the 14th Amendment, one of the Reconstruction Amendments passed at the end of the Civil War, which reads:

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

Do these words prove children of illegal aliens born in the United States are citizens? Not at all - if we consider legislative intent.

Sen. Jacob Howard of Michigan, co-author of the amendment's citizenship clause, wrote that this amendment "will not, of course, include persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, or who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers accredited to the Government of the United States. ..."

The aim of the amendment was to make sure that former slaves, who were considered chattel yet lived "under the jurisdiction" of the United States, would be considered citizens.

I would be the first to admit that our immigration system needs overhaul, but until we change the system, we do not need to look the other way as people break the law to enter this nation.

We need to send them packing - to their nations of origin.

What we most need is to secure our border to ensure the flood of illegals stops.

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