State lawmakers, led by Daryl Metcalfe of Pennsylvania, held a press conference in Washington, DC Wednesday to unveil their new nationwide legislative campaign to correct the misapplication to the 14th Amendment and end automatic birthright citizenship (BRC) in the U.S. to babies born of illegal aliens, so-called ‘anchor babies.’
America is just one of just a handful of countries that still bestows automatic citizenship for babies being born within the nation’s boundaries.
“According to the 14th Amendment, the primary requirements for U.S. citizenship are dependent on total allegiance to America, not mere physical geography,” explained Metcalfe. “The purpose of this model legislation is to restore the original intent of the 14th Amendment, which is currently being misapplied and is encouraging illegal aliens to cross (illegally into U.S.) and cost American taxpayers $113 billion annually, or nearly $1,117 yearly per individual taxpayer.”
According to State Legislators for Legal Immigration (SLLI), hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens are unlawfully crossing U.S. borders to give birth and exploit their child as “anchor babies,” as a means to obtain residency, access taxpayer-funded benefits and acquire American jobs.
“I’ve long considered birthright citizenship to be the holy grail of the illegal immigration debate,” said Oklahoma State Rep. Randy Terrill also a member of SLLI. “It has created a perverse incentive for foreign nationals to break U.S. law and proven to be a policy disaster for our Republic.”
Currently the 14th Amendment 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.”
While the single sentence may seem straight forward to some, SLLI sets out to crystallize the meaning of "subject to the jurisdiction of" and ensure it is followed with the founder’s intentions.
The state legislators say much confusion has surrounded the 14th Amendment and the Constitutional ramifications have resulted in the anchor baby status. However, the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) has now provided expert legal research and analysis to ensure the plain English- straightforward legislative solution will meet any Constitutional challenges brought against it once enacted by state Legislatures across the nation.
“Today we are here in Washington D.C. to serve Congress with notice that both the U.S. Constitution and the federal government were created by the states,” said Metcalfe. “Just like any other national policy, America’s immigration laws must protect the lives, liberty and property of American citizens, rather than foreign invaders.”
The new coalition includes lawmakers from 40 state legislatures- all working to solve the nation’s illegal immigration crisis.
One of the well-known members of SLLI is Arizona State Senate President Russell Pearce (R-AZ).
Pearce, often a lightning rod in the battle against illegal immigration (he co-authored Arizona’s SB1070), was unable to attend the D.C. press conference but released a brief statement on the subject. “The law is clear, the history is clear, the 14th Amendment is clear; natural-born citizens, are those born in the country, of parents who are citizens, for, if he is born there of a foreigner, it will be only the place of his birth, and not his country.”
The new Republican leadership in the House does plan to address the birthright citizenship problem, but only after taking up legislation dealing with workplace enforcement, including requiring the use of the E-Verify program, and ensuring jobs go to American citizens instead of illegal aliens.
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) told Fox News Tuesday that voters elected the new Congress to focus on the economy and jobs for American workers and that will be their first order of business.
But for many border security activists, ending birthright citizenship this year is one of their highest priorities along with border security and interior enforcement of immigration laws. According to Jeff Schwilk, spokesman for the SoCal Patriot Coalition, ending BRC is a priority because it is a backdoor amnesty for millions of illegal aliens, mostly Mexican citizens who use anchor babies to establish a foothold in the U.S.
“The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was never meant to bestow automatic U.S. citizenship upon the children of illegal aliens and foreign visitors," said Schwilk. "The 14th Amendment was enacted to protect newly freed African-American slaves, not criminals and invaders from foreign countries."
The United States and Canada are the last remaining developed nations in the world that still give automatic citizenship to babies born of illegal aliens and foreign citizens. All other first-world countries have stopped BRC abuse in their countries. Ireland, France, Australia, and New Zealand have all repealed BRC in the past 20 years.
Schwilk points out that anchor babies are really welfare babies, allowing illegal alien parents to apply for and receive welfare, healthcare, and other U.S. social benefits that can amount to thousands of dollars in ‘free’ money each month per anchor baby for the illegal alien parents.
All these benefits are paid for by U.S. taxpayers and it amounts to tens of billions of dollars per year nationally. Not surprisingly some anti-anchor baby advocates call them "jackpot babies" for poor illegal aliens looking for a way out of poverty.
To make matters worse, Mexico, China, and other countries are abusing the U.S. anchor baby loophole as well by encouraging their female citizens to give birth in the America.
"Birth Tourism" has become a billion-dollar industry due to America’s lax immigration and citizenship laws. More than a half a million anchor babies are now born in the U.S. each year, creating instant U.S. citizens status for the foreign parents who have foreign loyalties and connections.
Few citizens dispute the immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed by Congress and/or the Supreme Court to clarify BRC once and for all, but legislation doesn’t appear to be Congress’ priority for the early part of 2011.
Most Americans believe it is time to end the widespread BRC abuse and adopt a common sense solution that would state that babies born of foreign parents are citizens of the country their parents came from. The new state legislation would do just that and provide a non-citizen birth certificate to all foreign babies born in the U.S. by illegal residents.
After the birth of their child, parents can take that certificate to their nearest consulate or Embassy to receive a formal birth certificate from their country for their child.
Problem solved and no one is harmed, says Schwilk.
Another factor that makes the case for ending BRC is Mexico grants automatic Mexican citizenship to all babies born in the U.S. or anywhere outside Mexico. These babies already have automatic citizenship at birth, Mexican citizenship, and many people contend America should not give out free U.S. citizenship.
"By giving automatic citizenship to millions of Mexican citizen babies at birth, the U.S. Government has, perhaps unwittingly, created millions of new dual citizens who have strong loyalties to Mexico, especially when they grow up with Mexican parents and families in the U.S.," Schwilk added.
Not surprising the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) has a much different opinion on the birthright citizenship issue.
“These thoughtless and unnecessary proposals take our country in the wrong direction, away from inclusion and our other core American values,” stated Janet Murguía, NCLR President and CEO. “The citizenship clause is a bedrock principle of civil rights and part of what makes us all Americans. Never in our nation’s history have we amended the Constitution to take away someone’s rights and we should not do so now.”
While advocates consider the solution is quite simple and can be defined directly by Congress and doesn’t require a change in the Constitution, La Raza (The Race in Spanish) shares a much different opinion.
“Proponents of this idea would have you believe that their proposals are simple, uncomplicated, and an easy fix to a problem. But there is nothing simple about taking away a right that millions of Americans fought and died for in the Civil War. There is nothing uncomplicated about an assault on our Constitution. And this is no solution,” concluded Murguía.
The debate on birthright citizenship is certain to bring forth a fiery national conversation, one that will challenge the country’s broken illegal immigration system and lead to much-needed state or federal legislation.
For more stories; http://www.examiner.com/county-political-buzz-in-san-diego/kimberly-dvorak
More arguments for stopping birthright citizenship by Numbers USA can be found here: Birthright citizenship
© Copyright 2011 Kimberly Dvorak All Rights Reserved.
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