Free Republic

Most people in the United States disagree with the current interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which grants automatic citizenship to all children born on American soil, according to a poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion. 55 per cent of respondents would not grant citizenship to children born to foreigner tourists traveling with valid visas. In addition, 67 per cent of respondents would deny citizenship to the offspring of people who are in the U.S. illegally. Seventy per cent of Americans think the children of foreigners with legal documentation, such as students or workers with a proper visa,...

Last night I heard McCain say we should have hearings on immigration. Someone please tell Hannity and McCain that we have had at least three hearings in very recent years. Overwhelmingly they have showed that birthright citizenship was never intended for illegal aliens in the 14th amendment. Does McCain thnk we are stupid? http://judiciary.house.gov/legacy/6042.htm http://books.google.com/books?id=U2aiZ4xPirUC&lpg=PA1&dq=%22Dual%20citizenship%2C%20Birthright%20citizenship%22&pg=PA11#v=onepage&q&f=false On another Fox show with Bill Hemmer, he mis-stated that the 14th amendment included anchor babies. Either they are not doing their homework, or they are intentionally trying to mislead the uninformed masses.......... again.

Amnesty is defined as the action of governments by which persons or groups who have committed a criminal offense of a political nature that threatens the sovereignty of a country, are granted total or partial, conditional or unconditional, immunity from prosecution for that crime. Amnesty law, the core of “Comprehensive Immigration Reform”, is not the solution to our illegal alien crisis, despite misguided claims from the Left. Indeed, past amnesty law dramatically increased illegal immigration, and any suggestion of new amnesty law only encourages more of the same, with illegals crowding into the country to get in under the wire...

It is my considered opinion that Congress has authority under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment to define the jurisdiction of the United States. Indeed, it is my contention that Congress has exercised that power on many occasions, most recently in the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Senator Jacob Howard, the author of the citizenship clause in the Fourteenth Amendment, defined who would fall within the "jurisdiction of the United States": [E]very person born within the limits of the United States, and subject to their jurisdiction, is by virtue of natural law and national law a citizen of...

Adopted in 1868, the 14th Amendment defined citizenship — making it clear that former slaves and their descendents were American citizens. But part of that amendment, that everyone “born in” the US becomes a citizen, has become controversial during the immigration debate, with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and others calling for hearings on whether to repeal or revise the language. A Pew survey out this week notes that illegal immigrants who have children here (who then become insta-citizens) represent a not-insignificant portion of new births. Of the 4.3 million babies born in 2008, 340,000 were to illegal immigrants. The breakdown:...

The original intent of the 14th Amendment was never to grant “anchor baby” or “birthright” status to illegal aliens bent on gaming the system here in America. Unfortunately, that’s how the liberals have interpreted it and thus allowed the system to be misused.

PHOENIX (AP) -- Sen. John McCain says he does not support changing the Constitution to end automatic citizenship for children born to illegal immigrants. The Republican Arizona senator told The Associated Press that despite the current flurry of news stories on the topic and a statement he made last week that was widely interpreted as saying he supported hearings on the matter, he remains unconvinced that such a change is needed.

So… the US Constitution isn’t a “living document” that must breath with the times? That’s what Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is intimating, at least in her comments on the 14th Amendment. “Any talk about amending the constitution is just wrong,” Napolitano said. Her comment was reported on the network news this evening in a story about the call to address the birthright citizenship issue as it is said to relate to the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.

Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano on Friday rejected Republican calls to amend the Constitution to prevent children of illegal immigrants from gaining citizenship. “Any talk of amending the Constitution is just wrong,” Napolitano said in comments at the daily White House press briefing. Some Republicans have suggested the 14th Amendment should be changed to prevent the natural born children of illegal immigrants from obtaining citizenship. The amendment was approved after the Civil War to ensure citizenship for freed slaves, especially in the South. Critics argue that illegal immigrants come to the U.S. for the express purpose of winning citizenship for...

Whenever Fox News host Glenn Beck raises the history of progressives and eugenics, or the possibility that eugenics is part of the motivation of a legitimate policy debate, the left-wing has a hissy fit. But when the left introduces it, we're supposed to accept it as high-minded and scholarly, especially in the case Princeton University's Melissa Harris-Lacewell. On MSNBC's Aug. 12 "Countdown," liberal blowhard Keith Olbermann asked Harris-Lacewell, an MSNBC contributor, what the motivation was behind the proposition the 14th Amendment of the Constitution should be altered to close a loophole for illegal immigrants to achieve legal status in the...

The Republican U.S. Senate nominee says she's tough on illegal immigration but draws the line on altering the amendment, which grants citizenship to all people born in the United States. BY MAEVE RESTON Republican U.S. Senate nominee Carly Fiorina said Thursday that she opposes calls from some conservatives to alter the 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to all people born in the United States. Fiorina sought to appeal to conservative voters on immigration issues during her party's primary this spring, strongly backing Arizona's tough new law on illegal immigration, for example. But she drew the line Thursday at the question...

The final state to ratify the 14th Amendment was Ohio -- in September 2003. The Ohio Legislature had passed the amendment in 1867 but rescinded its approval a year later, claiming it was "contrary to the best interests of the white race." When Ohio finally rectified this embarrassing bit of history, just one legislator -- Republican state Rep. Tom Brinkman from Cincinnati -- voted against it. His opposition was viewed as an isolated curiosity. Now another Ohio politician, Rep. John Boehner, the House minority leader, questions the centerpiece commitment of the 14th Amendment: birthright citizenship. He is joined by Senate...

One in twelve babies born in the U.S. in 2008 were the offspring of illegal immigrants, according to a new study, a statistic that could inflame the debate over birthright citizenship. Undocumented immigrants make up slightly more than 4% of the U.S. adult population. However, their babies represented twice that share, or 8%, of all births on U.S. soil in 2008, according to the nonpartisan Pew Research Center's report. The report, based on Census Bureau data and analysis of demographic characteristics of the undocumented population, also found that the lion's share, or 79%, of the 5.1 million children of illegal...

It's like clockwork. Whenever conservatives propose a constitutional amendment, progressives suddenly rediscover the delicate gears of the Constitution and the horrible dangers of "tinkering" or "tampering" with its precision craftsmanship. Consider the sudden brouhaha over the idea of revising the 14th Amendment to get rid of automatic birthright citizenship (which would make us more like that alleged progressive nirvana known as "Europe," by the way). Here's Angela Kelley of the liberal Center for American Progress on Sen. Lindsey Graham, who started the amendment chatter: "He's not one to tamper with the Constitution, so I'm surprised he would even suggest this."...

Trust Republicans to go too far. They take a good idea - such as the notion that the federal government should enforce immigration laws and states should be able to help - and then drive it into the fringes. Witness a Fox News interview in which Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., declared, "We should change our Constitution and say if you come here illegally, and you have a child, that child is automatically not a citizen." Graham has supported a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants. He opposed the new Arizona immigration law. So why would he advocate repealing part of...

Immigration: The 14th Amendment was written to guarantee citizenship for freed slaves. It's been misinterpreted to give citizenship to children of illegal aliens. Now some GOP leaders want to restore its original meaning. In Texas this year, some 60,000 so-called "anchor babies" will be born to the 1.5 million illegal aliens estimated to reside there. They're called that because under the current interpretation of the 14th Amendment they're automatic citizens, encouraging more illegals to arrive and making it hard to deport those already here. "There is a problem," House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, told NBC's "Meet The Press" Sunday....

The liberal lionization of Emma Lazarus' poem [which Rush has brilliantly demolished] has reached laughable new heights. On this evening's Hardball, guest host Chuck Todd cited the Lazarus lines from the base of the Statue of Liberty . . . as if they had some authority in law! Todd was debating former GOP congressman Ernest Istook on the proposal some Republicans have floated to recast or clarify the 14th Amendment so as not to grant automatic citizenship to children born in the United States to illegal immigrants. View video here.

Should Lawmakers Consider a Birthright Citizenship Change to the Constitution? Yes, denying kids automatic citizenship would curb illegal immigration. No, this is not the issue that warrants a change to the U.S. Constitution. Maybe, because birthplace alone should not make the child of an illegal a U.S. citizen. Other (leave a comment)

As Republican members of Congress press for changes to the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, preventing automatic citizenship for babies born to illegal immigrants, opponents insist the debate is not really about babies. Instead, they say it is about politics and votes – not fixing the immigration system. Still, the debate could resonate in Texas, where not only 1.5 million illegal immigrants are estimated to reside but at least 60,000 babies are added to their households annually. Parkland Memorial Hospital delivers more of those babies than any other hospital in the state. Last year at Parkland, 11,071 babies were...

There are parts of Fox News I cannot watch. There is that self-important blowhard. There is that worldwide ambulance chaser. But as often as I can, I watch their news program at 6 p.m. My favorite part of that program is the lightning round, and especially the contributions of Charles Krauthammer. Charles normally dissects an issue with precision and accuracy. But not today, the 5th of August. He posed the issue whether a Congressman was right to say we need to amend the 14th Amendment to deal with the problem of anchor babies. Krauthammer made the mistake of not reading...