Eliminating Birthright Citizenship

Reading this story on Fox News this morning, I almost wet my pants. Surprise, joy, eagerness -- it was an exciting combo of reactions.

"By granting the child citizenship, that child then is able, down the road, as he becomes an adult, to legally make the parents citizens of this country as well," said Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga.

Now, a bill sponsored by Deal is gaining support in Congress. It would deny automatic citizenship to children born to undocumented immigrants.

I have long said that both the wording and the intent of this portion of the 14th Amendment have been purposefully misinterpreted to grant birthright citizenship to anyone born within our borders:

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the U.S."

This language was added to the constitution after the Civil War to provide protection against blacks being denied their rights as newly recognized citizens. The widespread abuse of this misinterpretation is a crime we have allowed to go on for far too long. It should never have been interpreted as an invitation to sneak into the country to give birth as a way of circumventing the process of legally attaining citizenship.

"It would be just wrong for us to deny such a basic right to just this population," said Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles..."

"This population?" By that, of course, you mean those who break our laws in entering the country to steal citizenship?

Critics of the plan also warn that denying birthright citizenship to illegal immigrants could result in a divided culture such as the one that was demonstrated so vividly in the recent wave of arsons and vandalism in France.

"It goes against a tradition of really integrating immigrants into our society in order to unify us as a nation, and what it actually does, it further marginalizes a whole community," Salas said.

Conferring citizenship does not provide integration. Integration is achieved when people learn the language, give up being a hyphenated-American to become an American, fully accept and enter into the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, and start respecting this country by coming here in a legal and honorable fashion.

Provisions to drop automatic citizenship are also part of several other immigration reform plans circulating on Capitol Hill, and the idea is gaining public support. A recent poll shows 49 percent of Americans oppose automatic citizenship for everyone born on U.S. soil with only 41 percent in favor.

This is truly encouraging. But we need more. More people to put on their thinking caps and look at what this amendment means. More people to figure out that it's not only bad interpretation, but also bad news for our country.

This isn't about excluding a certain group of people based on their ethnicity, the color of their skin, or their home country. It's about stopping people from using their own babies to break our laws and thank us by robbing us blind.

Looking for good resources? Check out FAIR and NumbersUSA.

We've got to speak up loud & strong. Call, e-mail, fax & write your senators and congressman to tell them that this is hurting America, and it's just plain wrong.

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