← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · jeffersonian
Thread ID: 20454 | Posts: 4 | Started: 2005-09-29
2005-09-29 22:28 | User Profile
[URL=http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/0905/29natcitizen.html]Atlanta Journal[/URL]
[QUOTE][B]Birthright citizenship under attack[/B]
By MARY LOU PICKEL, EUNICE MOSCOSO
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 09/29/05 Silvia Moreno snuck across the U.S. border from Mexico and made it to Atlanta to join her husband last year. When she gave birth this year, she named her daughter Scarlett, after Scarlett O'Hara. Moreno, 26, had watched "Gone With the Wind" and was inspired by the Atlanta heroine. "She worked so hard. She overcame adversity to survive," said Moreno, who wants her daughter to develop the same strength. Scarlett Alvarado Moreno, 6 months, is a U.S. citizen because she was born here; her mother, father, and 4-year-old brother are illegal immigrants. Millions of families like Scarlett's will be the focus of a hearing today before a U.S. House subcommittee in Washington to discuss birthright citizenship, dual citizenship and its effect on national sovereignty. As President Bush opens the debate on a temporary worker program that could allow immigrant laborers to come into the United States, the issue of what happens to their children has come to the forefront. Although revoking the birthright guarantee is not likely to be part of Congress' immigration reform agenda this fall, there are increasing signs lawmakers are thinking about altering a privilege grounded in common law and the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. The proposals come in a post-9/11 time of increasing suspicion toward illegal immigrants. Several bills have been introduced. Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) wants to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to limit automatic citizenship at birth to children of U.S. citizens and lawful residents. Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) introduced a constitutional amendment that also would limit birthright citizenship. Such an amendment would require ratification by three-fourths of the states. 'Anchor babies' A proposal by Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), who heads a 90-member caucus pushing to tighten immigration laws, would deny citizenship to U.S.-born children of temporary immigrant workers. Tancredo said the provision is vital because temporary workers would not want to leave after their visas expire if their children are U.S. citizens, or so-called anchor babies. Moreno, of Atlanta, thinks it's unjust to deny citizenship to children born in the United States because their parents, although illegal, work hard. "People work so much, and they give their youth to this country," Moreno said. Moreno wanted Scarlett to be an American because with the blue American passport, "the doors of the world are open to her," she said. Mexicans have a harder time getting tourist visas to see the world, she said. Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a national group that lobbies to reduce illegal immigration, said the lure of U.S. citizenship for children is a "huge incentive" for people to come to the United States illegally because it opens the door to many social benefits. Also, once they reach 21, the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants can petition for their parents' residency. Family reunification often is cited as a reason for amnesty proposals. There were 6.3 million illegal immigrant families in the United States in 2004, according to a study released in June by the Pew Hispanic Center. Most of them ââ¬â 59 percent ââ¬â do not have children, the study said. But nearly one-third of families headed by illegal immigrants do have children who are U.S. citizens, the study said. Immigrant advocates and Hispanic groups say finding work is the major motivation for illegal immigration. "The only thing that this kind of change gets you ... is stateless people, which doesn't solve any problem," said Cecilia Munoz, vice president for policy at the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights organization. "This is not a matter of immigration policy, this is a matter of changing who we are fundamentally as a nation," she said. The United States grants citizenship to every child born in the United States [B]with the exception of children of occupying forces [/B] and foreign diplomats, who keep the citizenship of their home country, said Peter J. Spiro, an international law professor at the University of Georgia School of Law who is testifying at today's hearing. Spiro said that proposals to change the birthright citizenship have been around since the mid-1990s, but several court decisions have upheld the citizenship. "It's part now of our entrenched constitutional tradition that all children born in the territory of the United States are deemed citizens at birth," he said. Ides Mercado, 19, who said she came from Honduras five years ago on a visa, warned of consequences if the birthright provision is revoked. "There will be a lot of illegals here if they don't let the children be citizens," she said as she pushed a stroller with her 7-month-old daughter through Plaza Fiesta on Buford Highway in DeKalb County. Daisy Montoya Becerra, 24, of Atlanta has one son born here, one son born in Mexico and another child on the way. She's glad her younger son has U.S. citizenship. [B]"If he weren't a citizen, they'd take away Medicaid," [/B] she said. She's also happy her younger son will be able to cross the border freely instead of having to slip across with a smuggler. "With papers, he can come and go easily," she said[/QUOTE]
I would argue that the 10 to 20 Million illegal aliens in this country are an "occupying force" and that the warfare is economic, they are strip mining the country for Jobs, medical care, education, and social services.
I also think the Mexican Sponge's quote says it all: "If he weren't a citizen, they'd take away Medicaid,".... Feeling used yet?
2005-09-30 18:34 | User Profile
Tancredo Supporters:
Please vote for Cong. Tom Tancredo in an internet poll located by using the following link: [url]www.patrickruffini.com[/url] . You can vote once per day.
2005-10-04 03:43 | User Profile
[font=Times New Roman][size=3]They're squirting 'em out in litters, people. Wake up!
By the time the American public even thinks about doing something to check this it will already be well beyond the point of no return.[/size][/font]
2005-10-19 15:30 | User Profile
[HTML] Moreno wanted Scarlett to be an American because with the blue American passport, "the doors of the world are open to her," she said. Mexicans have a harder time getting tourist visas to see the world, she said. [/HTML] - In addition to her dreams of being a world-traveller, next they'll be telling us they were lured here by Taco Bell's wonderful 7 layer burrito, and how authentically Mexican it is.
[HTML] "This is not a matter of immigration policy, this is a matter of changing who we are fundamentally as a nation," she said. [/HTML]- Yeah, a MEXICAN one! You racist!!