WASHINGTON -- Democrats in Congress
frequently accuse the GOP of attacking immigrants, and on Wednesday, House
Republicans gave them more fodder by holding a hearing on whether the U.S.
should continue the longstanding practice of granting citizenship to all
children born here.
Some Republicans argue that birthright
citizenship incentivizes unauthorized immigration and birth tourism. They add that the 14th Amendment,
which states that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States,
and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United
States," has been misinterpreted to apply to children of undocumented
immigrants.
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) and Sen. David
Vitter (R-La.) have both introduced bills this year to end birthright
citizenship, but neither has gone for a vote.
Even if those bills never get a vote --
and they likely won't -- the fact that the issue got a hearing at all provided
fuel for Democrats, who were fiery in their defense of the right for babies
born on U.S. soil to be citizens.
"This birthright citizenship
legislation and a decision to hold a hearing on its merits are outrageous
examples of just how far shameless Republicans are willing to go to demonstrate
their hatred for immigrants," Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said at a
press conference, accusing Republicans of using the bill to stigmatize and sow
hate for immigrants.
At the same press conference, Rep. Luis
Gutierrez (D-Ill.) said, "In Spanish-language media there will be one more
piece of evidence that Republicans will do anything and everything to keep
their nativist wing happy."
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.) issued a statement accusing Republicans of pandering "to the
most radical, anti-immigrant corners of their party" and called the idea
"one of the most loathsome, xenophobic proposals in recent memory."
In a separate statement, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) called the hearing "a
humiliating reminder of the jingoistic insensitivity of the few toward
multiculturalism and the changing face of America in the 21st Century."
The same day, a coalition of
pro-immigration reform groups released a report detailing what it called the
"2015 GOP mass deportation agenda."
Many Republicans, including Judiciary
Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), defended the decision to hold the
hearing.
"The question of whether our
forefathers meant for birthright citizenship in all circumstances to be the law
of the land is far from settled," Goodlatte said at the hearing. "In
any event, we must still determine if it is the right policy for America
today."
King was the most adamant that it was
not the right policy. He questioned what would happen "to the demographics
of America if this policy is not reversed," and implied that Democrats may
support birthright citizenship because they want to win elections.
"I don't think I'm hearing an
argument as to why it would be a good idea to grant automatic citizenship to
any baby that could be born in the United States to any mother who could find a
way to get into the United States," he said. "That hands over the
immigration policy to everyone except Americans. So I don't know that that's
even a debate before this committee unless you want to expand your political
base by any means necessary."
Witnesses from the Republican side --
John Eastman of the Claremont Institute's Center for Constitutional
Jurisprudence, Jon Feere of the Center for Immigration Studies and University
of Texas law professor Lino Graglia -- all argued against granting automatic
citizenship to everyone born in the U.S., either as unnecessary under the law
or bad policy.
"It is difficult to imagine a more
irrational and self-defeating legal system than one that makes unauthorized
entry into the country a criminal offense and simultaneously provides the
greatest possible inducement to illegal entry: a grant of American
citizenship," Graglia, who was testifying on behalf of himself and not the
university, said during his testimony.
Source:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/29/house-republicans-birthright
citizenship_n_7174686.html? ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592&utm_source=Liberty_Headlines_Is_Giving_Your_Site_Free_Traffic_for_Now&AID=7236
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