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A few days ago, Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump unveiled an actual immigration policy, which included a striking provision: "End birthright citizenship." As regular readers know, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution doesn't leave much in the way of wiggle room: the rights of American citizenship are given to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States." The principle of birthright citizenship has been upheld by the Supreme Court many times since its enactment following the Civil War. If the Constitution says those born in the United states are citizens of the United States, what exactly does Trump intend...

Donald Trump clashed with Bill O’Reilly on Tuesday night over the part of his immigration plan that would take away citizenship from the children who were born in the United States but whose parents came to the country illegally. Under the 14th Amendment, O’Reilly told Trump on “The O’Reilly Factor,” mass deportations of so-called birthright citizens cannot happen. Trump disagreed, and said that “many lawyers are saying that’s not the way it is in terms of this.” “What happens is, they’re in Mexico, they’re going to have a baby, they move over here for a couple of days, they have...

Mexico has a radical idea for a rational immigration policy that most Americans would love. However, Mexican officials haven’t been sharing that idea with us as they press for our Congress to adopt the McCain-Kennedy immigration reform bill.   That’s too bad, because Mexico, which annually deports more illegal aliens than the United States does, has much to teach us about how it handles the immigration issue. At a time when the Supreme Court and many politicians seek to bring American law in line with foreign legal norms, it’s noteworthy that nobody has argued that the US look at how Mexico...

How the Mexican constitution treats foreign residents, workers and naturalized citizens  Introduction Every country has the right to restrict the quality and quantity of foreign immigrants entering or living within its borders. If American policymakers are looking for legal models on which to base new laws restricting immigration and expelling foreign lawbreakers, they have a handy guide: the Mexican constitution.[1] Adopted in 1917, the constitution of the United Mexican States borrows heavily from American constitutional and legal principles. It combines those principles with a strong sense nationalism, cultural self-identity, paternalism, and state power. Mexico's constitution contains many provisions to protect the country from...

 A Message from the Ambassador of the United States of America     January 31, 2006 Dear Friends and Colleagues:  As recent weeks have demonstrated, border security and immigration are two of the most complicated and difficult issues in the great diversity of questions that arise in the bilateral relationship between Mexico and the United States. Today, in President Bush’s annual State of the Union address, the President spoke directly about issues that affect Mexico and gave his thoughts on ways to improve the lives of people in both our countries.  Click here to see the full text of the President’s...

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza said Thursday that the Bush administration is against proposals to build a wall along the United States' entire southern border. "The president is aware of the concerns of critics who would like to build a wall around the United States," Garza told a small group of foreign correspondents. "As the former governor of Texas, he knows that such proposals are both unrealistic and undesirable." Some lawmakers have proposed building a wall from California to the Gulf of Mexico to stop the millions of undocumented workers who sneak over the border with Mexico. Garza said...

Mexico said it was working to improve security in the border region but suggested the U.S. State Department had overreacted by renewing a warning to U.S. travelers about drug violence in northern Mexico. As with the original travel advisory, the repeat warning on Tuesday angered Mexicans. The update blamed the continuing violence in Mexican border cities on turf battles between drug gangs but noted that was in part the result of Mexico's success in locking up cartel leaders. "Imprecisions and generalizations that hurt the spirit of cooperation in law enforcement and the fight against organized crime should be avoided," the...

Mexican Elite Fetes Marriage of U.S. Envoy, Heiress By Noel Randewich MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's rich and famous celebrated the high society marriage of a charismatic U.S. ambassador to a beer baroness with a fortune worth $1.5 billion on Saturday in a lavish but very private party. Bride Maria Asuncion Aramburuzabala and groom U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza invited 400 friends to a lakeside resort town for a wedding, billed as Mexico's society event of the year. Guests invited to the glamorous couple's party near Mexico City included U.S. first lady Laura Bush, Texas Governor Rick Perry and Mexican telecommunications...