Bush Aides Condemn Birthright Citizenship Reform (Compassionate Conservatives Support Invasion)

Frum Forum ^ | August 11th, 2010 | David Frum

[kabar]

The US and Canada are the only developed countries in the world that still have birthright citizenship. No country in Northern Europe offers birthright citizenship. No country in Western Europe offers it. Nor does any country in Southern or even Eastern Europe offer it. Nor Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand.

U.S./Canada Are Last Remaining Developed Nations Giving Birthright Citizenship To Tourists & Illegal Aliens

[freedomfiter2]

Boy am I glad to see that bunch gone.

[I Buried My Guns]

"Curious, why is it you spend 100% of your time here trashing what is supposedly your own political side?"

RINOs are not "my people". They are responsible for the decay of conservatism and the failure to defend against encroaching socialism. They are traitors to my, and your, values and deeply-held beliefs. They must be exposed and turned out if we are to make this country great again.

[navysealdad]

The very author of the citizenship clause, Sen. Jacob Howard of Michigan, expressly said: “This will not, of course, include persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers.”

In the 1884 case Elk v. Wilkins, the Supreme Court ruled that the 14th Amendment did not even confer citizenship on Indians — because they were subject to tribal jurisdiction, not U.S. jurisdiction.

For a hundred years, that was how it stood, with only one case adding the caveat that children born to LEGAL permanent residents of the U.S., gainfully employed, and who were not employed by a foreign government would also be deemed citizens under the 14th Amendment. (United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 1898.)

And then, out of the blue in 1982, Justice Brennan slipped a footnote into his 5-4 opinion in Plyler v. Doe, asserting that “no plausible distinction with respect to Fourteenth Amendment ‘jurisdiction’ can be drawn between resident aliens whose entry into the United States was lawful, and resident aliens whose entry was unlawful.” (Other than the part about one being lawful and the other not.)

Brennan’s authority for this lunatic statement was that it appeared in a 1912 book written by Clement L. Bouve. (Yes, THE Clement L. Bouve — the one you’ve heard so much about over the years.) Bouve was not a senator, not an elected official, certainly not a judge — just some guy who wrote a book.

So on one hand we have the history, the objective, the author’s intent and 100 years of history of the 14th Amendment, which says that the 14th Amendment does not confer citizenship on children born to illegal immigrants.

[Comparative Advantage]

I don’t even think Canada offers it any more.

[Comparative Advantage]

Oops, I guess I was wrong.

[Jane Austen]

They must really hate this country.

[kabar]

I have seen conflicting reports that they ended it in 2009, but I will go with Roy Beck’s latest comments on the issue.

[andy58-in-nh]

Ah yes, there's nothing like abusing cheap day laborers escaping their horrible neighboring countries to help keep American business expenses down.

Only it does not do any such thing. There are few things more expensive than "cheap" labor. Massive drains on basic social services, rampant crime, drug abuse, skyrocketing insurance costs, broken families, gang wars - oh yeah - that's such a good deal for them, and for us.

What kind of idiots in the GOP think that it's a swell idea to admit an army of uneducated, illiterate, unskilled, disease-ridden people into this country without any guarantors of personal or financial responsibility nor any commitment to our nation's laws, history, or way of life? It is among the most self-destructive notions of our age, and we've got those in spades.

[The Comedian]

Brought to you by the people who offered us John McCain, and gave us Obama.

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

[NVDave]

This just reminds me why I’m glad Bush is gone.

And why David Frum is a noisy irrelevance.

[Moonman62]

Lindsey Graham is using the 14th Amendment issue as a beard. He has no intention of seriously pursuing this and knows that it has little chance of succeeding.

True enough, and the same goes for the rest of the GOP ruling class. It's election season rhetoric to score a few cheap points.

[Moonman62]

For more than a century, it’s been interpreted by the courts to include children whose parents are not U.S. citizens, including illegal immigrants.

AFAIK it was one tiny footnote in a supreme Court decision.

[Melchior]

Some years back in a nation in South America’s Sothern Cone a Consular Official approached the U.S. Ambassador with the information that a known gangster was sending his wife to the USA to have a baby, and thus acquire a form of American citizenship. The Consul informed the Ambassador that it was the sixth or seventh such event in recent months when gangsters and drug merchants had sent their spouses to America. The Consul urged that no visa be issued the gangster’s wife. The U.S. Ambassador (a good Liberal) ordered that the visa be granted. As he put it, “I have my own security to consider.”

[algernonpj]

... At the risk of angering people with whom I agree essentially, there is still the issue of what do you do with kids who were born here, were raised here, speak English, and know no other culture or society but ours? Can we in good conscience deport them to what is essentially a country foreign to them?...

Yes, this is called paying for the sins of your parents. Don't forget many of these kids and their parents have no desire to assimilate; they tend to drop out of school at an alarming rates and not value education; many of them are not even literate in English.

There are times when what seems to be a kindness is nothing but self destruction.

[kevao]

trashing what is supposedly your own political side?

These people are opposing a common sense solution to fix the illegal immigration madness that is eating away the fabric of the Republic. Why would you say they are on our political side?

[moehoward]

Not really. Senator Jacob M. Howard, author of the citizenship clause contained in the 14th, has said it was never meant to apply to those illegally here. That alone should clarify the issue.

On the other hand. If immigration law was enforced and borders even half secure, this would be a non-issue.

[vpintheak]

Always hated that about W.

[ZULU]

I guess a case by case review is called for.

People who have no desire to become Americans have no business being here unless they are just visiting or have a special TEMPORARY visa.

[HiJinx]

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