Journal einhverfr's Journal: Constitutional Citizenship, Arizona, and all that 2
A ballot initiative in Arazona has been put forward to attempt to deny citizenship to individuals born in this country to parents who are not here legally. I believe that this measure is Unconstitutional and something every American ought to oppose.
To be fair the issue of children being born to illegal immigrants who then give additional benefits to their parents is a real issue, but solutions to this problem exist which do not impose burdens on American citizens and do not run amok with the Constitutional definition of citizenship (being applicable to all who are born or naturalized in this country and who are subject to the jurisdiction of our country) found in the 14th amendment.
Proponents of the measure suggest that individuals born in this country to illegal immigrants do not fall under this ammendment. They point to congressional record to support their arguments but neither the plain wording of the amendment of the 14th Amendment nor the congressional record support this limitation. In general, the 14th amendment was understood to exclude certain classes of individuals, most notabably alians (neither born nor nationalized in the US), and children of diplomats or ministers of foreign governments (whose diplomatic immunity excludes them from US jurisdiction).
An attempt to ensure that only children of US citizens are US citizens would impose serious burdens on US citizens when their children are born. As my son was born overseas, I had to go through a similar process ater his birth. I don't think that requiring something in the US would be wise even if it was Constitutional (which I don't believe it is).
A better approach would be to make a simple rule: US citizens must meet a minimum age of, say, 21 years old before petitioning the entry of blood relatives. Furthermore, when a family of illegal immigrants is detained and deported, any US citizen children of the family who have no immediate relatives legally in the US would be issued a passport and then deported. The passport would then allow the child to apply for a new passport when he/she becomes an adult and re-enter the US as a US citizen. No interpretation of the Constitution I can find would prevent the US government from barring entry of minor US citizens when not accompanied by a legal guardian who is also legally able to enter the country. By placing a minimum age of 21 on top of a petition process which can last several years, we could remove any incentive to have children in the US for the sole purpose of one's own immigration status.
A second piece of our policy needs to be a sane immigration policy which does not create a massive black market for illegal immigration. This black market fuels drug and human trafficking, and these industries could be set up to smuggle other dangerous substances into the US, such as those which might be useful in large-scale terrorist activities. Therefore illegal immigration is a systemic threat to our national security. This means that we need strong reform for the processes of bringing in foreign workers and that we work to slowly help ensure that people who are currently on welfare have an opportunity to make a better living for themselves taking jobs which currently go to illegal immigrants (however, here, the devil is in the details).
heh (Score:2)
I'd say this is first and foremost.
Re: (Score:2)
First, I think we need a reasonable and rationed guest worker program. I also think we need to provide modest additional but temporary (perhaps lasting 6-8 months per individual) welfare benefits for individuals returning to work (after the period of additional benefits, the payments would be phased out over another 6-8 months),