I applaud this guy's efforts and am behind him 100%. But, the War between the States and the 14th amendment ended state citizenship. 
Posted on 12/30/2007 7:13:44 AM PST by HiJinx
PHOENIX — The architect of Arizona's new employer sanctions law, which takes effect Tuesday, is crafting a series of new measures aimed at people who entered the U.S. illegally.
Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, says he is introducing measures this legislative session to:
● Deny regular birth certificates to babies born in Arizona unless at least one parent proves citizenship.
● Expand the state crime of trespass to cover anyone in the U.S. without authorization.
● Require proof of legal presence in the U.S. to register a vehicle or get a title.
● Deny workers' compensation benefits to undocumented workers injured on the job.
● Bar local policies that prohibit police officers from checking the immigration status of those they encounter.
Pearce is not taking any chances the measures will be rejected by Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano, who previously vetoed a trespass bill and similar proposals. All are being drafted so if they pass the Republican-controlled Legislature they go directly to the ballot.
The most controversial — and legally questionable — part of Pearce's package is his attempt to withhold regular birth certificates in order to deny automatic citizenship to children born here to illegal entrants. That would also deny them public benefits now reserved for legal U.S. residents.
A similar initiative drive launched last month already has drawn opposition from the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association amid concerns about putting these facilities in a law enforcement role and eroding trust with patients.
Pearce acknowledged courts have ruled the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, passed in the wake of the Civil War to provide equal protection under the law, guarantees citizenship to anyone born in this country.
But he said extending that right to babies born of parents in the U.S. illegally is based on a misreading of the amendment.
He notes it says citizenship requires not just birth in the United States but also that the person is "subject to the jurisdiction" of this country, which he said does not apply to people here illegally.
Critics counter it is Pearce who is misreading the Constitution.
Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix, said visitors, legal or otherwise, are subject to U.S. jurisdiction, just as a foreigner who commits a crime here can be prosecuted in Arizona courts.
Rep. Tom Prezelski, D-Tucson, said the guarantee of citizenship to children born in the United States to illegal-entrant parents has been upheld by the courts for more than a century, including in 1898 by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The court ruled that a child born in San Francisco of Chinese parents who were excluded from citizenship based on the Chinese Exclusion laws was a citizen of the United States by virtue of the 14th Amendment.
Pearce's measure rings of previous punitive measures aimed at American Indians, slaves and Chinese in ugly periods of U.S. history, Prezelski said.
"We are deciding who and who isn't American based on who their parents are and what their parents have done," he said. "That strikes me as undemocratic, and it really shakes the principles on which our country was founded."
Pearce acknowledges there will be a lawsuit once Arizona denies regular birth certificates to children of those not here legally, but said he believes this time the courts will side with his view of the 14th Amendment.
He said taxpayers are burdened with the cost of "anchor babies" born to parents in this country illegally.
The Pew Center for Hispanic Studies said in 2006 that about one out of every seven of the more than 1 million students in Arizona public schools were here because of illegal immigration. While as many as 60,000 are themselves here illegally, another 90,000 are children of illegal entrants who, by virtue of their birth in this country, are considered citizens.
While federal law requires states to educate all children regardless of immigration status, most other programs can be reserved for legal residents, ranging from free health care for those who meet income restrictions to subsidized tuition at state universities.
And Pearce said if those not here legally leave because of the other measures, they will take their children, reducing the state's nearly $5 billion annual cost for education.
"A better name for these 'anchor babies' is probably 'jackpot babies,' " Pearce said.
Pearce's package, coupled with the sanctions bill and earlier voter-approved measures, is designed to make Arizona less hospitable to illegal entrants and pressure them to leave. There is at least anecdotal evidence the sanctions law already is doing that: Some Mexican nationals who normally return home to visit family at Christmas have indicated they may not return.
"It's a matter of cutting off the free stuff, stopping the benefits," Pearce said.
"I mean to make it unfriendly for those who break laws," he continued, comparing the measures to legislative efforts to stop drunken driving by imposing stiffer penalties. "What do you have to do to raise the bar so much that they stop?"
Prezelski said punitive measures aimed at illegal entrants have become an annual ritual in the Legislature even though there's no proof they've had any impact.
"It's already gone too far, and it's going to go even further," he said. "And, attacking this issue of birthright citizenship is an indication that things have gotten a little ridiculous."
But Sinema conceded all Pearce's measures likely would gain voter approval, as did prior measures in 2004 and 2006. She said voters are frustrated with lack of action by Congress to deal with the issue.
"When they don't act, Arizonans get mad at anyone they can," she said. "And I can't blame them for it because they have a right to be frustrated."
Read in-depth coverage of border-related issues at azstarnet.com/border.
Ping!
It’s about time someone addressed the anchor baby issue.
Seems to me it'd be pretty easy to write up some contracts with doctors right across the Arizona border in Mexico who'd be quite happy to handle 99% of these cases.
This should minimize the unsightly incidence of severely injured foreign workers dieing in the streets and messing up the flow of traffic.
I applaud this guy's efforts and am behind him 100%. But, the War between the States and the 14th amendment ended state citizenship.
I disagree. Earlier immigration to the US was done by people who wanted to be absorbed into this country and its culture. That is not the case today. Hispanics don't want to learn English and this country, so far, has been so politically correct to accommodate them on this point it approaches stupidity. Muslim immigrants want to replace our Constitution with Sharia Law making this country a theocracy.
The fact is that illegal immigrants are breaking the laws of the Land and I have absolutely no tolerance for it. They come here illegally and then bitch when they are denied this or that benefit extended "to other US citizens". Sorry, Paco, you are not a citizen. Go through the process, come here legally, become part of the US rather than trying to make it a suburb of your country, and I'll welcome you with open arms. Otherwise, you're nothing but a common criminal and I will treat you as such.
I want this guy to run for President!
True. But trying to do so on the State level is ludicrous.
I love that at least ONE parent has to be an American Citizen.
IMO, that's one incentive he's got backwards: what you want to do is make top level managers at their employers personally responsible for the costs when undocumented workers get hurt on the job, irrespective of whether the business is incorporated or an LLC. Their company hired Pedro to avoid paying taxes and workers comp premiums to improve the bottom line, they should directly and personally bear the consequences if the policy backfires.
No chit! No wonder they are clamoring to get here. Look at all the ‘bennies’ they are getting. And these are just some of them. How about food stamps, housing,etc.?
No matter what, Nappie will find some way to stall if not block it.
If we actually got a state to deny citizen ship to babies born of illegal aliens,,it would go all the way to the supreme court and might finally resolve the current view of the 14th.
So..go for it AZ.
"We are deciding who and who isn't American based on who their parents are and what their parents have done," he said. "That strikes me as undemocratic, and it really shakes the principles on which our country was founded."
Our country is a REPUBLIC, which means it is a government of LAWS! The word DEMOCRACY is nowhere found in our Constitution. It was our forefathers intent to make sure we did not have a DEMOCRACY. I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the REPUBLIC for which it stands, it's not the Democracy for which it stands. And there is a huge difference between a democracy and a republic. Sorry for the rant but it drives me crazy.
This is not fair to those of us who were born while both of our parents were in the USA legally as permanent residents who at the time were in the process of legally obtaining US citizenship. Why should we be denied our birthright because of these illegal scumbags?
Sounds good to me.
The ideal here is to get a court case that can be taken to the supreme court.
I agree with his goal, but don’t think there is a chance the Courts will agree.
I don't think the USSC has ever said a state has to issue a birth certificate ~
So what's your complaint? If the parents don't have a visa authorizing them to immigrate to the USA that particular decision doesn't apply.
Ping
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