Deported, pregnant Mexican woman wants re-entry to U.S., lawyers say fetus is citizen.

San Luis Obispo ^ | Mon, Jul. 26, 2004 | Associated Press

[pepperhead]

Last week immigration officials denied a request to grant 30-year-old Maria Christina Rubio, mother of two young U.S.-born daughters, a temporary humanitarian visa to return to the United States because of complications in her pregnancy.

Dang she pulled off this stunt twice before.

[Chode]

that was my whole point... you have to be BORN here not conceived here

[ShadowDancer]

I didn't realize that. I thought if one parent was a citizen it automatically gave dual citizenship.

[FITZ]

actually... it does work that way. while a fetus is a living human, it has not passed the "birth" stage of life.

The amendment should be removed anyhow since it no longer fits it's original purpose. It is kind of silly --- if a fetus is 8 1/2 months but gets deported, it's a Mexican, if the baby gets born then it stays and the parents get welfare checks and a lot more, if the baby arrives here at any point after birth --- say an illegal makes it to one foot from the border and delivers one foot away, it's a Mexican baby even if she drags it over 5 minutes later, if she makes it just over the border, she's at a welfare check.

[MacDorcha]

oh, lol. i thought you were directing it at another comment. :)

[MacDorcha]

Im not completely up to date on this, but i believe dual-cit occurs when both parents are US citizens, and you are born on another countries soil (in US law anyway, the other nation's laws may provide otherwise)

that or the mother is a non-US citizen, and the father is a US citizen on US soil.

again, i may not be up to date, but i think thats the gist of it.

also, keep in mind what i said. even though my statement applies to my case, and thus "father makes you a citizen" does not ALWAYS apply, it may have also been part of "other nation's laws" that my mother had to have me on base.

[MacDorcha]

the amendment need not be changed, otherwise the "born citizen" bit may waiver, and be undermined later (which would make me and my father natives of Germany and Scotland respectively.)

simply enforce what is there. if a child is born over here while the mother is visiting (or has been stuck due to health reasons, or any sordid excuse) then the child has citizenship here.

if a mother can climb past our border and have a baby, then we should keep the baby. we dont need to make the trip easy for her though, stop her with border patrols.

but i stand by it, if she gets here and has the child on the soil the instant it comes out of her, it is a US citizen. if the baby is born over there, it has citizenship over there!

[FITZ]

But you would force Americans to pay for her free care which she is getting while at the same time is here for the purpose of getting a lifelong welfare check from that baby? Hospital workers obviously aren't working for nothing --- it's costing Americans some very big money to get these welfare mothers their checks.

[OldPossum]

This story proves once again that there is no ridiculous legal argument that some Federal district judge somewhere won't fail to buy.

[MacDorcha]

in that case, welfare needs reform, not citizenship laws.

[heleny]

If the father is a US citizen does that not make the baby so also, regardless of where it's born?

No, but the parents can apply for the baby's permanent resident visa and for him to be naturalized, as long as he's not yet 18 or 21 (I forgot which). For the minor children of a citizen, the PR visa applications probably get processed more quickly.

[heleny]

Now I have to wonder if there would be an abrupt turnaround in social conservative's sentiments towards defining the unborn as a human-being when the US government declares the unborn fetus of an illegal alien an American citizen.

Probably not. They'll more likely have a turnaround in their sentiments towards defining a citizen as nearly anyone born here.

[Brad’s Gramma]

Interesting, the corner the libs keep backing themselves into, isn't it?

[<1/1,000,000th%]

They also say under federal law the fetus is a viable human being and thus may be eligible for citizenship rights.

Unless she aborts after crossing the border.

[Aetius]

I didn't realize the Sup Court had ruled on this. Thanks for the info.

Then I guess it would take an Amendment to correct a loophole that was never forseen by those who ratified the 14th.

[bigjoesaddle]

If this logic works, my 11 month old would be an Ohio citizen here in Iowa.

[Brad’s Gramma]

Dual citizenship? :-)

[Lurking Libertarian]

Then I guess it would take an Amendment to correct a loophole that was never forseen by those who ratified the 14th.

I agree, although Congress has already fixed a part of the problem by repealing the "anchor baby" rule. A baby born in the U.S. to an illegal alien mother is a U.S. citizen under the Constitution, but he can no longer sponsor his mother for legal immigration until he reaches age 18. So the mother (if caught, that is) has the choice of leaving with the baby or putting it up for adoption. (If she leaves with the baby, the baby is still a U.S. citizen and can return when he grows up, but the mother can't apply to enter legally as a relative of a citizen until the child is 18).