Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Birthright Citizenship Looms as Next Immigration Battle

NOGALES, Ariz. — Of the 50 or so women bused to this border town on a recent morning to be deported back to Mexico, Inez Vasquez stood out. Eight months pregnant, she had tried to trudge north in her fragile state, even carrying scissors with her in case she gave birth in the desert and had to cut the umbilical cord.

“All I want is a better life,” she said after the Border Patrol found her hiding in bushes on the Arizona side of the border with her husband, her young son and her very pronounced abdomen.

The next big immigration battle centers on illegal immigrants’ offspring, who are granted automatic citizenship like all other babies born on American soil. Arguing for an end to the policy, which is rooted in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, immigration hard-liners describe a wave of migrants like Ms. Vasquez stepping across the border in the advanced stages of pregnancy to have what are dismissively called “anchor babies.”

The reality at this stretch of the border is more complex, with hospitals reporting some immigrants arriving to give birth in the United States but many of them frequent border crossers with valid visas who have crossed the border legally to take advantage of better medical care. Some are even attracted by an electronic billboard on the Mexican side that advertises the services of an American doctor and says bluntly, “Do you want to have your baby in the U.S.?”
Read the rest here.

This is a tough one. I am highly sympathetic to the argument against birthright citizenship. Few countries permit this. The problem is that the language in the Constitution is crystal clear. I think Congress should pass and send to the states an amendment to strike that line from the 14th Amendment. I have little doubt that there are enough states that would vote to ratify the amendment. The argument that it was not the "intent" of the framers of the 14th Amendment to extend citizenship to everyone born here is dubious. But more importantly is that it can not be resolved definitively one way or another. And once you start down the path of putting your own "well I think this is what they meant" stamp on the Constitution you have become a liberal, irrespective of your cause. It is a slippery slope.

Do it right. Amend the Constitution.

3 comments:

gdelassu said...

I am highly sympathetic to the argument against birthright citizenship. Few countries permit this.

I am not much convinced by this argument. We are much wealthier than most countries, in large measure because the world's most talented, ambitious and hard-working folks come here to live and work. That is to say, immigration redounds much more to our benefit than to our detriment. If other countries are less welcoming of immigrants than are we, more is the pity for them. I am sure that America could do well to emulate other countries on some things, but this is one aspect of life in which other countries would do better to emulate us.

Jon Marc said...

It'd be nice to have comprehensive, humane immigration reform, but I have the feeling this is all we're going to get (provided even it gets pushed through).

The Anti-Gnostic said...

gdelassu:

I'm not convinced material wealth or numerous citizens working 60+ hours a week is the touchstone for a sustainable society. The rest of the world seems to value their distinctive identities as French, Lebanese, Syrian, Tuscan, Serbian, etc. over being the wealthiest nation in the world. They like being part of a very large extended family rather than being just another production factor.