Sen. Russell Pearce faces an uphill battle in his quest to deny citizenship to children born in the United States, even if the parents are undocumented, since the 14th Amendment to the Constitution guarantees citizenship to anyone born in the United States.
In the charged climate surrounding the immigration debate in the country, don't think for a second, however, that Pearce and others of his ilk aren't going to test the boundaries of the law in an effort to further squeeze undocumented residents.
Pearce questions why the child of two illegal residents can gain citizenship if the parents can not.
It is estimated by the Rand Corp. that American taxpayers spend more than $1.1 billion in health care costs for undocumented residents, the majority of whom come from Mexico and Central America. According to estimates from the Pew Hispanic Center, a good chunk of that sum comes from medical expenses of the estimated 300,000 births to illegal residents each year.
Pearce maintains that "blind spot[s]" in our law, such as granting automatic citizenship to the offspring of illegal residents, provides a powerful magnetfor couples to come to the United States to give birth in order to gain the rights of citizenship that they ironically can not enjoy.
Under Pearce's proposal, the state would withhold birth certificates from parents unless at least one parent could prove legal status.
It is an interesting but fatally flawed campaign by Pearce and his cohorts. And the reason why it is flawed is simple: It goes against current law.
I believe that there are some people who come to here to have children with the purpose of getting citizenship for the offspring. Their children are sometimes referred to as anchor babies,a term that immigration advocates find insulting and discriminatory.
Shame on parents who are here illegally and have a child here simply to gain the child citizenship. But two wrongs don't make a right. We can't allow their misdeeds to force this country into an even bigger misdeed like ignoring the Constitution.
Said more simply, states can not enact their own laws to sidestep the U.S. Constitution. End of story.
People who oppose illegal immigration want the strict enforcement of current immigration laws. That is all well and good, but you can't pick which laws to obey or you'll have anarchy.
So if Pearce is serious about denying citizenship to babies of illegal immigrants, he needs to start by amending the U.S. Constitution.
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"Shame on parents who are here illegally and have a child here simply to gain the child citizenship. But two wrongs don't make a right. We can't allow their misdeeds to force this country into an even bigger misdeed like ignoring the Constitution."
I agree to. This is one of the reasons there is problems with our social security/medicare system there are to many people on it that didn't pay into it and I'm a black man who knows Arizonas has some racist pockets like any other state. But for the survival of those residents illegal immigration must be enforced and boycotting Arizona is not the answer.
You and the author have a very selective regard as to concern about ignoring the Constitution.
How about how the Constitution was ignored in vetting Obama eligibility to be president? How about how the Constitution has been ignored in it's limitations of federal power as laid out in the 10th Amendment?
I totally agree that all anchor babies and their parents should be deported asap. I want to know why the little girl and her entire family were not deported when she informed the presidents wife they were here illegally. No, they helped her mother stay in the country. So, if you rob a bank and have an interview with the president is he going to show you how to pay it back in a monthly convenient time span. Enough is enough. They are teaching their children its' okay to lie if its going to benefit you. Did anyone notice the school and the community the illegals were living in and how many were working.Mexicans go home so Americans can have their children educated and money is there for us.
Arizona wants to keep their state from the steady influx of illegal immigration growing worse. This is a ploy of compromise. Sen Pearce knows the likelihood of the consititution being changed is nonexistent, however its leverage in their conservative fight to move forward with action to end illegals from entering their state
This is what happens when you don't take of your business in the first place. If the immigration laws that have been on the books for years had been enforced in the first place we would not have to do all of these extreme things to rectify the situation. Now these babies will suffer for the deeds of their parents and this country will have to do some severe and harsh things to try to fix a situation that could have been handled by following the laws we already have.
Exactly. Enforce the laws. This problem would not have happened if it were not fot greedy people using the people they know are here illegally. If the parent had not been here illegally the child would not have been born here. How can this country give legal rights to someone who should not have been here in the first place. Use some common sense.
I agree with you 100%. The illegal parents should never been allowed to enter our country in the first place. After it was discovered they were here, they should have been fined and then deported. What part of illegal don't some people understand. I have friends here legally on student visas. When the visa runs out they have to go home. Why are "illegals" allowed to stay here, take our jobs or receive welfare, free medical care for themselves and their kids and attend public school all for free. It's not right. We can't just open our borders and let anybody and everybody come in and not be documented. This causes over use of everything. The schools are over crowded, jobs are scarce, hospitals close because nobody is paying. It's a big mess and I know because I live in Los Angeles. If they want to come why don't they do it the legal way. Why do they feel they are above the law. And shame on big business that makes money off the back of this almost free labor source.
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Comments: (27)
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By: stay positive on 6/16/2010 2:55PM
"Shame on parents who are here illegally and have a child here simply to gain the child citizenship. But two wrongs don't make a right. We can't allow their misdeeds to force this country into an even bigger misdeed like ignoring the Constitution."
hmmm, sad to say i agree with this..
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By: rh on 6/16/2010 3:09PM
I agree to. This is one of the reasons there is problems with our social security/medicare system
there are to many people on it that didn't pay into it and I'm a black man who knows Arizonas has some racist pockets like any other state. But for the survival of those residents illegal immigration
must be enforced and boycotting Arizona is not the answer.
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By: BillSchrier on 6/16/2010 4:46PM
You and the author have a very selective regard as to concern about ignoring the Constitution.
How about how the Constitution was ignored in vetting Obama eligibility to be president? How about how the Constitution has been ignored in it's limitations of federal power as laid out in the 10th Amendment?
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=166569
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By: Skeewee on 6/16/2010 6:43PM
I totally agree that all anchor babies and their parents should be deported asap.
I want to know why the little girl and her entire family were not deported when she informed the presidents wife they were here illegally. No, they helped her mother stay in the country. So, if you rob a bank and have an interview with the president is he going to show you how to pay it back in a monthly convenient time span.
Enough is enough.
They are teaching their children its' okay to lie if its going to benefit you.
Did anyone notice the school and the community the illegals were living in and how many were working.Mexicans go home so Americans can have their children educated and money is there for us.
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By: selfish people on 6/17/2010 5:42PM
Arizona wants to keep their state from the steady influx of illegal immigration growing worse. This is a ploy of compromise. Sen Pearce knows the likelihood of the consititution being changed is nonexistent, however its leverage in their conservative fight to move forward with action to end illegals from entering their state
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By: barbarascy385 on 6/16/2010 3:08PM
This is what happens when you don't take of your business in the first place. If the immigration laws that have been on the books for years had been enforced in the first place we would not have to do all of these extreme things to rectify the situation. Now these babies will suffer for the deeds of their parents and this country will have to do some severe and harsh things to try to fix a situation that could have been handled by following the laws we already have.
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By: Ester on 6/17/2010 6:58PM
Exactly. Enforce the laws. This problem would not have happened if it were not fot greedy people using the people they know are here illegally. If the parent had not been here illegally the child would not have been born here. How can this country give legal rights to someone who should not have been here in the first place. Use some common sense.
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By: Shay on 6/17/2010 7:31PM
I agree with you 100%. The illegal parents should never been allowed to enter our country in the first place. After it was discovered they were here, they should have been fined and then deported. What part of illegal don't some people understand. I have friends here legally on student visas. When the visa runs out they have to go home. Why are "illegals" allowed to stay here, take our jobs or receive welfare, free medical care for themselves and their kids and attend public school all for free. It's not right. We can't just open our borders and let anybody and everybody come in and not be documented. This causes over use of everything. The schools are over crowded, jobs are scarce, hospitals close because nobody is paying. It's a big mess and I know because I live in Los Angeles. If they want to come why don't they do it the legal way. Why do they feel they are above the law. And shame on big business that makes money off the back of this almost free labor source.
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By: rh on 6/16/2010 3:15PM
Everybody was to busy using them for cheap labor and turned a blind eye.
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By: barbarascy385 on 6/16/2010 3:57PM
I couldn't agree more. They used them and now that it is a political liability they want to do all of this harsh stuff to them.
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