[Tublecane]

“Hunter, who spoke at a tea party gathering in Ramona Saturday, said he does not believe children born to illegal immigrant parents should get automatic U.S. citizenship.”

The 14th amendment disagrees with him.

[Little Ray]

Beg to differ.

In the simplistic form, if that were so, the children born to diplomats in the US would be citizens - and they are not.

There are better, more detailed arguments, but the interpretation of the 14th Amendment is about as twisted as the interpretation of 2nd Amendment in the the Miller case.

[rob777]

"The 14th amendment disagrees with him."


You are right, it would require a constitutional amendment to address the issue of "anchor babies".

[Shadowjudge]

Yup, however, the policy should be that if your parents are here illegally, you go with them. Only humane thing to do, because we cannot allow this Anchor baby stuff to slide.

[95B30]

I think you should do some research on that. The discussions and the idea of what was meant by a citizen at the time might open your eyes. Pay particular attention to what was said and why, about the Indian tribes.

[Myrddin]

The 14th amendment has long been abused and misinterpreted on this issue. Deport the whole family. The children can apply for re-entry at age 18 if they wish to claim U.S. citizenship and the current twisted interpretation is still in effect. In the meantime, we need to expel the illegals and their offspring. We simply don't have the resources to support them.

[Red in Blue PA]

Nonsense. The 14th was never written so that we might get anchor babies.

[TheThinker]

The 14th amendment disagrees with him.

No, the modern liberal interpretation of the 14th amendment disagrees with him. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

It's the phrase "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof" meaning if a person is subject not to the jurisdiction of the the US but of another country, then they are not citizens.

There are two qualifications for someone to be deemed a citizen at birth, not just because they were born on American soil.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

The 14th amendment disagrees with him.

Try reading this:

Anchor Babies, Away

[John-Irish]

Amendments can be changed.

[Amerigomag]

The 14th amendment disagrees with him.

The federal appellate courts, chiefly from the FDR court packing era, have interpreted the 14th to confer auto-citizenship on anchor babies. However, the only SCOTUS decision to touch indirectly upon the matter, post civil war, thought otherwise.

And yes, by the fruit of the poison vine, those who derived their citizenship through extra-constitution means, my be striped of those rights after an unfavorable SCOTUS ruling.