Arizona lawmakers propose another tough illegal immigration law
Source: (AHN) Reporter: Tom Ramstack
Location: Phoenix, AZ, United States
Published: January 28, 2011 02:57 pm EST

Arizona lawmakers are heating up the debate over illegal immigration again with legislation they proposed Thursday that would change the legal definition of a citizen of their state.


The bill would exclude the children of immigrants from citizenship unless the parents were "lawfully" domiciled in Arizona.

Federal law now grants citizenship to anyone born in the United States.

If the state legislature passes the bill, it is nearly certain to run headlong into legal conflicts with the U.S. Constitution, according to legal analysts.

The new bill follows by one year approval of an Arizona law, Senate Bill 1070, that is the toughest state law against illegal immigration in the United States.

It authorized local police to question people about their citizenship status, which previously was exclusively an authority of federal law enforcement officers.

The law also allowed police to ask for proof of citizenship from anyone at a crime scene, even if they were not involved in illegal activity.

A federal judge issued an injunction last summer blocking enforcement of S.B. 1070.

Arizona Republican Rep. John Kavanagh, who co-sponsored the new bill, said current federal laws irresponsibly granted citizenship to people based on their physical location at birth, which was not a good way to determine whether they deserve the benefits of being Americans.

About 340,000 children were born to illegal immigrants in the United States in 2008, according to a study published in August by the Pew Hispanic Center.

About 4 percent of the nation’s estimated 11 million illegal immigrants live in Arizona.

Lawyers who participated in the challenge to S.B. 1070 say it stands almost no chance of withstanding a lawsuit in federal court.

They say it violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, which forbids discrimination based on race or national origin.

Arizona lawmakers who drafted the bill say they would like their proposal to be challenged in court to force the federal government to confront problems with illegal immigration.

A similar bill was filed last week in the Indiana General Assembly. At least 10 states have considered proposals similar to the ones in Arizona.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and her supporters say states along the border with Mexico are suffering from the federal government’s failure to develop an effective policy for controlling illegal immigration.

A spokesman for Brewer said the proposal to restrict birth rights to citizenship “deserves to be studiedâ€