Free Republic

During a debate (see pg. 2791) regarding a certain Dr. Houard, who had been incarcerated in Spain, the issue was raised on the floor of the House of Representatives as to whether the man was a US citizen. Representative Bingham (of Ohio), stated on the floor: “As to the question of citizenship I am willing to resolve all doubts in favor of a citizen of the United States. That Dr. Houard is a natural-born citizen of the United States there is not room for the shadow of a doubt. He was born of naturalized parents within the jurisdiction of the...

"Jeffrey Toobin Issued False Legal Statements to Anderson Cooper Regarding Vattel and the 14th Amendment. With natural born citizen legislation racing through 11 state legislatures, truthful legal analysis is more important than ever. False statements issued on CNN yesterday via an Anderson Cooper interview with Jeffrey Toobin demand correction. CNN, should they not immediately correct the false statements, will be privy to the stench of propaganda. Jeffrey Toobin, alleged to be a “CNN Senior Legal Analyst”, gave a clearly false description of Vattel’s definition of “natural born citizen”. Toobin stated that the Vattel definition requires a person to be born...

Reps. Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.), Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), John Campbell (R-Calif.), and Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) have cosponsored the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2011 introduced by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa). All four Members signed onto the bill shortly after it was introduced in the 112th Congress. The bill currently has 56 cosponsors and amends current U.S. code to require at least one parent to be a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident for a new born to receive automatic citizenship. The Fourteenth Amendment extends citizenship to all persons born in the U.S. and "subject to the jurisdiction"; it also grants Congress the...

While 2010’s immigration debate centered on the controversial Arizona law, 2011’s promises to be focused on a different — and even more explosive — topic: birthright citizenship. Kris Kobach, the recently elected Kansas secretary of state, is a lawyer and professor of law who specializes in immigration issues. The architect of Arizona’s SB-1070, he is the legal mind behind two new proposals to challenge the automatic granting of citizenship to any child born in the United States, regardless of the legal status of his parents. The first proposal is state-level legislation that would not affect the federal citizenship of an...

As the new Congress convened, a group called State Legislators for Legal Immigration proposed two laws. One would declare that children of parents who immigrated here illegally are not born "subject to the jurisdiction" of the U.S. and so are not birthright citizens under the 14th Amendment. Under the other, states would issue two types of birth certificates, one for those born "subject to the jurisdiction" of the U.S. and one for everyone else. The states have no power to pass the first proposed law. Congress may be able to, but it is a bad idea that will not halt...

Americans abhor extremism. It is the reason our democracy has lasted for more than 200 years and why we have rejected both socialism and right-wing radicalism. American political parties have generally hewed to the center, unlike their European counterparts, so that even major political shifts moved the country only from center right (as in the Reagan and Bush administrations) to center left (as in the current administration). It is a lesson that both parties should take to heart, but one that poses special problems for the Republicans as one group of extremists attempts to hijack the GOP on a single...

Steve King Moves Forward on Bill to End Birthright CitizenshipPosted by Stephanie Condon January 6, 2011 10:13 AM Republican Rep. Steve King of Iowa, marking his first day as head of a House immigration panel, introduced a bill on Wednesday to end the practice of birthright citizenship. The bill would amend section 301 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to clarify those classes of individuals born in the United States who are nationals and citizens of the United States at birth. It's generally thought that the 14th Amendment provides a constitutional guarantee of citizenship for anyone born in the United...

"State Lawmakers Take On Birthright Citizenship WASHINGTON — Conservative lawmakers from five state legislatures launched a joint campaign on Wednesday to try to cancel automatic United States citizenship for the American-born children of illegal immigrants. At a news conference here, Republican legislators unveiled two model measures they said would be introduced in at least 14 states. One was a bill clarifying the terms of citizenship in those states to exclude babies born here of illegal immigrant parents. The second was a compact between states to adopt common positions on the issue. The lawmakers acknowledged that the state bills were not...

Arizona state politicians will introduce model legislation this week to encourage states to prevent children of illegal immigrants from being granted citizenship under the 14th Amendment. Lawmakers in at least 14 states have said they are committed to passing the legislation targeting birthright citizenship. Arizona's anti-illegal-immigrant bill, SB-1070, was also based on model legislation that could be easily copied by states, and at least seven states are likely to pass bills similar to the first Arizona immigration overhaul this year, according to one analysis by an immigrants rights group. Arizona state Senator Russell Pearce will unveil the bill Jan. 5...

Like any responsible pregnant woman, Chen Lei (not her real name) wants the best for her unborn child. She and her husband live in Shanghai; both work for a foreign IT company, and they have more choices than their parents' generation could even dream of. So Chen, 30, is one of an increasing number of mainland Chinese women who are taking advantage of a loophole in American law to travel to the United States to give birth. "Most Chinese women who go to the U.S. to give birth do so for their child's future, for the education, and for the...

Jackson: Obama must tend to black vote By: James Hohmann October 27, 2010 05:38 PM EDT www.politico.com ________________________ __________________ The Rev. Jesse Jackson thinks President Barack Obama could increase black turnout next week, and thus limit Democratic losses, by promising a second economic stimulus that includes funding for urban renewal. The civil rights leader faults the Democratic Party for waiting too late to advertise in key races and laments the president’s failure to better sell his accomplishments. But he said there might still be time to stop Republicans from winning control of the House. “The black vote, which is bigger...

Illegal Immigration: Lawmakers in 14 states are joining to restore the intended meaning of the 14th Amendment: that being a U.S. citizen requires more than just your mother sneaking past the Border Patrol. The architect of Arizona's immigration law, SB2070, announced Tuesday a new crusade to correct what he perceives as an unfortunate misinterpretation of the 14th Amendment that allows children of illegal immigrant parents to be considered U.S. citizens if they're born on U.S. soil. "This is a battle of epic proportions," Mesa Republican state Sen. Russell Pearce said. "We've allowed the hijacking of the 14th Amendment." He says...

Lawmakers in at least 14 states are collaborating on proposed legislation to deny U.S. citizenship to children of illegal immigrants, according to lawmakers, including the sponsor of Arizona's 2010 law targeting illegal immigration. "We're taking a leadership role on things that need to be fixed in America. We can't get Congress to do it," Republican state Sen. Russell Pearce, of Mesa, said Tuesday. "It's a national work group so that we have model legislation that we know will be successful, that meets the constitutional criteria." The efforts by the state legislators come amid calls to change the U.S. Constitution's 14th...

With the U.S. midterm elections five weeks away, the Tea Party movement is already the big winner of 2010. This anti-government, grass-roots Republican offshoot has rattled the party establishment — making the former governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, the party’s most prominent 2012 presidential possibility — and has dominated the debate this campaign season. The Tea Partiers believe they are on the cutting edge of a revolution: the “future of politics,” as Ms. Palin says. More likely, they are a short-term catalyst for Republicans and a long-term problem. Nevertheless, their victories are impressive — toppling the Republican Party’s choices in...

Las Vegas copyright enforcement company Righthaven LLC has suffered a legal setback, with the newest federal judge in Las Vegas ruling one of the Righthaven defendants may have a meritorious defense in arguing the Las Vegas Review-Journal provides an "implied license" for the online reposting of its stories. U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro on Friday granted a request by defendant Jan Klerks of Chicago that a clerk's default against him be set aside so he can fight the Righthaven lawsuit -- a motion Righthaven had opposed.

The explosion of an issue on the national scene often seems to come from nowhere. That is really a misconception; what more accurately defines the process is that the issue bubbles to the surface of our culture and finally reaches what is called a “tipping point.” The definition of “tipping point” is the moment at which an object is displaced from a state of stable equilibrium into a new and different state. That has now occurred with what has become known as “anchor babies,” and the problem lies with the misinformation that has been bantered about. The common argument against...

There have been numerous debates about “birthright” citizenship in recent weeks. As the Heritage Foundation has pointed out, the claim that the 14th Amendment confers citizenship on the children of visitors or illegal aliens is mistaken. Neither the text nor the legislative history supports such an interpretation. Perspective is needed. How many other countries have birthright citizenship? How many such children are there in the United States, and how much is this costing us? The Center for Immigration Studies has just released a study by Jon Feere that gives some answers. The report didn’t get the attention it should have...

It appears that the GOP -- with the help of the Tea Parties, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, and the Devil -- is out to revise the 14th Amendment to the point of meaninglessness. Maybe even write the amendment out of the Constitution itself -- if not discard the Constitution completely. And all so that poor foreign newborns, who have never hurt a fly, won't be awarded with free American citizenship upon first seeing the light of day. Makes you sick, doesn't it? At least that's how the legacy media, along with various immigration activists and liberal politicians, have chosen to...

Legal scholars and constitutional lawyers please opine. Many people want to discontinue the federal government’s interpretation of the 14th Amendment’s birthright citizenship clause. People feel that it is just plain wrong for people to be awarded citizenship because their parents broke the law. The illegal immigrant parents will become legal citizens too when their citizen children turn 18, so who needs all that headache of jumping through amnesty hoops. (They can become a citizen here and never learn English). Anybody who didn’t qualify for amnesty (with legal documents or falsified documents) in 1986 just stayed anyway. There are four ways...

The suggestion by at least three senators that the Constitution be amended to deny birthright citizenship to children of illegal aliens born in the United States has induced derogatory retorts that to do so would negate the 14th Amendment's protection of civil rights. Historical facts - ignored by those opposed - in fact demonstrate that such an amendment would reinstate the rule as originally intended by the adoption of the 14th Amendment in 1868. At issue is the first clause of the 14th Amendment, which states, "All persons born ... in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,...