Posted on 12/04/2007 11:29:33 AM PST by yorkie
Arizona voters may be asked to decide whether to prohibit the state from issuing birth certificates to children of non-U.S. citizens and require hospitals to check the citizenship of parents of newborns.
Those are key provisions of a proposed initiative filed Friday for possible inclusion on the November 2008 ballot, and a leading legislative critic of illegal immigration says he plans similar but separate legislation to take the issue to voters.
Della Montgomery, the woman who filed the proposed initiative with the Secretary of State's Office, did not immediately return a call for comment Monday, but the proposed “Birthright Citizenship Alignment Act” appears to be aimed at illegal immigration. “They are awarding the full privileges of United States citizenship of all persons born in the state without regard for the clear and equal requirements of federal law that a person born in the United States, shall citizenship be bestowed, shall not be subject to any foreign power and owe direct and immediate allegiance to the United States,” the proposed initiative's declaration of purpose states.
Some critics of illegal immigration contend that the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment has been misapplied and was never intended to automatically grant citizenship to babies of illegal immigrants.
The constitutional provision was enacted after the Civil War and was meant to apply to former slaves, said Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa. “It has nothing to do with aliens.”
Supporters of the proposed initiative would need to submit signatures of at least 153,365 voters by July 3 to qualify the measure for the ballot, while legislative approval alone would be enough to put a referendum being drafted by Pearce on the ballot.
While generally banning issuance of birth certificates to non-citizens, the measure would permit one to be issued to a child whose mother is a foreign citizen and whose father is a U.S. citizen if the father formally acknowledges parentage and agrees in writing to financially support the child until adulthood.
The initiative also would require that hospitals submit “certified documentation of the parents' United States legal status” to local registrars with birth certificates for newborns.
Please read the rest of the article. I did not click ‘excerpt’. Sorry.
Unfortunately, I have a feeling this law would run afoul of the 14th amendment, as it (the amendment) is currently written.
I was under the assumption that there was some debate regarding the interpretation of the 14th Amendment.
Sounds like a good idea to me. Let’s take it through the process.......................
I fear you might be right, but could one argue that an illegal isn't subject to the jurisdiction thereof by definition?
I'm way out of my league with legaleese so I'll leave it for others to decide.
At this point we couldn’t get two thirds to agree the sun comes up in the east.
It would bring it before the court again. Ultimately a Constitutional Amendment will be necessary - and is long overdue.
The Supreme Court has, several times, held that the 14th Amendment grants citizenship to everyone born on U.S. soil except for children of foreign diplomats (who, having diplomatic immunity, are not "subject to the jurisdiction" of the U.S.).
50 cals. at the border would make any arguement in the future a forgone conclusion. those already here would be a different matter.
Maybe it should be a felony for an illegal alien to give birth in America.
Sounds good to me. However, with 50 or more Mexican consulates in the US maybe Mexico will fight for their citizens. Ya think? Otherwise, we are assisting Mexico in genocide.
“subject to the jurisdiction thereof
I fear you might be right, but could one argue that an illegal isn’t subject to the jurisdiction thereof by definition?
I’m way out of my league with legaleese so I’ll leave it for others to decide.”
What business is it of the US Supreme Court to tell the states the conditions under which they may issue birth certificates? Already the various states collect information on birth parents to put in these certificates, why shouldn’t “Citizen of:” not be one of them?
The first step towards properly defining the 14th by way of a new amendment, I like it.
The writers of the amendment did not specifically mention illegal aliens, but it’s pretty clear that “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” was intended to include only those who were part of a given states society. More particularly, it’s clear that the writers of the amendment intended it to apply to former slaves and their children. Illegal aliens simply are not covered by that amendment.
Only on the blogs.
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