Birthright Citizenship Under Attack

By Mary Lou Pickel, Eunice Moscoso - 09/29/05 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

As President Bush opens the debate on a temporary worker program that could allow immigrant laborers to come into the United States, the issue of what happens to their children has come to the forefront.

Although revoking the birthright guarantee is not likely to be part of Congress' immigration reform agenda this fall, there are increasing signs lawmakers are thinking about altering a privilege grounded in common law and the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.

The proposals come in a post - 9/11 time of increasing suspicion toward illegal immigrants. Several bills have been introduced.

Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) wants to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to limit automatic citizenship at birth to children of U.S. citizens and lawful residents.

There is no intent to deny American citizens their birthright citizenship. There is simply a desire to limit the ability of the courts to use the 14th Amendment to grab totalitarian power and grant citizenship to illegal invaders.

The significant problem with this claim that the 14th amendment grants citizenship to illegal aliens is the assumption by the courts that they and only they can rule in this area. As I have noted on another thread, the idiocy of their argument is proven by the way the rule is enforced. If a legally present relative of a foreign diplomat, has a child, no citizenship is conferred. However if that person was to take an action to cease being here legally, such as giving up the diplomatic status, and simply not leaving, then the child is a citizen because the parent is here illegally. Children of parents from a foreign country here legally do not get citizenship but children of illegal aliens do. Is this insane?

The obtuse arguments used by judges in defense of this ruling do not make sense. They are based on their interpretation that illegal aliens are "subject to our laws". By their logic, everyone in the world is "subject to our laws". The reality is that we must enforce those laws with millitary or police powers or they are meaningless. Why the judges think that means that the legislature can agree to exempt those here legally from another country but not exempt those here illegally is typical of the judicial corruption that is destroying our nation.