There has been a great deal
in the news lately about the 14th Amendment. Several political figures have grabbed
headlines by demanding that we do away with something called “Birthright
Citizenship” which is a right granted to all Americans through the 14th
Amendment to the Constitution.
For those of you a little
rusty on your high school civics, the 14th Amendment to the
Constitution was ratified on July 9, 1868, and granted citizenship to “all
persons born or naturalized in the United States,” which included former slaves
recently freed. In addition, it forbids states from denying any person
"life, liberty or property, without due process of law" or to
"deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the
laws.” The Fourteenth Amendment provides that children born in the
United States become American citizens regardless of the citizenship of their
parents.
The exact language of the Amendment is lengthy, but section 1
states:
All persons born or naturalized in
the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the
United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or
enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of
the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
According to the New York Times, “Several G.O.P. candidates, including Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Lindsey
Graham, Bobby Jindal, Rand Paul, Rick Santorum and Scott Walker, have joined
Donald Trump in calling for an end to this rule (of birthright citizenship) —
or at the very least questioning it — as part of their immigration platforms.”
Instead of addressing the specific issue of
illegal immigration and offering solutions, these candidates are now even
questioning the legal status of individuals born here. The absurd irony of this conversation is that
some of these candidates were themselves the beneficiary of the Birthright
Citizenship.
I have had a few conversations with my own
father, who also enjoyed the benefit of Birthright Citizenship. My paternal grandmother emigrated here from
Ireland. She did have a required visa to
visit, but she stayed well beyond the time limit of her visa; in fact, she
never actually left. After arriving
here, she became pregnant with and had my father, but she was not a citizen at
the time. My father is a first
generation American. He fought in World
War II and later became a New York City Police Detective. My father is in the group that is often
referred to as the ‘Greatest Generation’.
He is also what many have called ‘Anchor babies.’ He is not what many would typically think of
when discussing anchor babies, but nonetheless, he is one, and so are millions
of other Americans whose families came here looking for a better life. There are no exact counts on the
number of U.S. children with parents who are in the U.S. illegally.
Many politicians have speculated about this desire to have
children in the U.S. so they will become citizens, and they claim it is driving our out of control
immigration problem, but the evidence does not seem to support this idea. If having a baby was a significant driving
factor in illegal immigration, you would expect to see a higher percentage of
women of child-bearing age in the U.S. illegally compared to men of the same
age. In fact, just the opposite is the case. Numbers from the Pew Hispanic
Center show that in four separate age ranges between 20 and 40, undocumented
men significantly outnumber undocumented women.
Living in Arizona, the issue of immigration comes up often in conversations. There are a multitude of opinions, but if we look back at our 200+ years as a nation we can clearly see that immigration is a huge part of our history. Not only was my father a first generation American, but my mother was only a second generation American. We do need to address the problem of illegal immigration, but denying citizenship to those born here is not the answer. It is important to understand that the 14th Amendment was added
specifically to ensure the rights of former slaves who were denied citizenship. Despite the political posturing and rhetoric, changing the Constitution
would require a two-thirds vote in Congress, then ratification from
three-fourths of state legislatures. Challenging and overturning this amendment is not only a highly unlikely and very difficult task, but it would be a huge leap backward for
our country.
