Thread: HEARING: BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP: IS IT THE RIGHT POLICY FOR AMERICA?

Apr 29 2015

HEARING: BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP: IS IT THE RIGHT POLICY FOR AMERICA?


2141 Rayburn House Office Building

THE HONORABLE BOB GOODLATTE

Chairman Goodlatte: I rarely have a conversation about general immigration policy in which the issue of birthright citizenship is not raised.

Yet it has been several years – nearly 10 I believe – since this Subcommittee has looked at the issue. So I thank the Gentleman from South Carolina for holding this hearing.
The discussion is important as we move forward with any reforms to immigration law and policy.

Birthright citizenship is the principle that the place of an individual’s birth automatically determines that individual’s citizenship.

The U.S. policy on birthright citizenship stems from the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, of which the citizenship clause states that, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States….” Congress subsequently included that language in statute.

However, as we will hear today, the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” is central to the debate over whether the U.S. Constitution requires that the U.S. adhere to birthright citizenship. It is central to the question of whether the U.S.-born children of unlawful aliens should be considered citizens at birth.

A close look at, and discussion of, the legislative history of the Fourteenth Amendment, the language of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and relevant case law like Elk v. Wilkins and United States v. Wong Kim Ark, are central to determining the meaning of “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”

The question of whether our forefathers meant for birthright citizenship in all circumstances to be the law of the land is far from settled. In any event we must still determine if it is the right policy for America today.

Very few countries with advanced economies have a policy of birthright citizenship. In fact, of the G-20 countries, only the United States, Canada and Mexico automatically grant citizenship based on the individual being born in the country despite the citizenship or immigration status of the parents.

That is not to say that just because other countries do not have a certain policy or law, that the U.S. should not have that policy or law.

But as Members of Congress, we should have an open and honest discussion about the consequences of automatic birthright citizenship.

Evidence suggests that automatic birthright citizenship incentivizes illegal immigration and abuse of U.S. immigration law and policy. And extremely troubling is the rise of the “birth tourism” phenomenon in which pregnant women from foreign countries briefly come to the U.S. specifically to give birth here so that their children become U.S. citizens. The women and children then return to their home countries.

This has become a multi-million dollar business in certain areas of the U.S. where “maternity hotels” advertise in foreign countries to house pregnant foreign nationals in the U.S. until they give birth. Even if you believe that birthright citizenship is the right policy for the United States, such abuse of our generous policy is unacceptable.

I look forward to the witness testimony and the discussion of whether, and how, to change the U.S.’ birthright citizenship policy.

I yield back the balance of my time

http://judiciary.house.gov/index.cfm...7-2C5D7169114C

http://judiciary.house.gov/index.cfm...cy-for-america


Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security of the Committee on the Judiciary House of Representatives

April 29, 2015

http://judiciary.house.gov/_cache/fi...4-21-94409.pdf

Illegal alien amnesty supporter BOB GOODLATTE holding this hearing....
http://www.alipac.us/f34/robert-w-go...aliens-311925/

Probably means the John Boehner amnesty faction in Congress is trying to take control of the issue from Donald Trump!

W

True of Mr. Goodlatte. I read some of the testimony however, from those (Lino Graglia, CIS) at the hearing who do not support birthright citizenship for illegal aliens.

Witnesses

• Lino A. Graglia
  A.W. Walker Centennial Chair in Law, University of Texas at Austin School of Law
  Testifying in his personal capacity
• Dr. John C. Eastman
  Founding Director
  The Claremont Institute's Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence
• Jon Feere
  Legal Policy Analyst
  Center for Immigration Studies
• Richard Cohen
  President
  Southern Poverty Law Center

http://www.cis.org/sites/cis.org/fil...ight-final.pdf