Anchors Away
By Jon E. Dougherty (05/11/05)
Most Americans realize our nation's immigration policies are flawed in favor of illegal aliens, but not everyone knows there is a provision of U.S. law being abused every year by thousands of migrant parents – all on the up-and-up.
I'm talking about a constitutional provision granting automatic citizenship to any child born in the U.S., even if its mother sneaks in the country illegally.
"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," says the first sentence of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Written and passed in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, the law's intent was to prevent states from denying citizenship to newly freed blacks. It definitely was not written as a welcome mat for the children of illegal migrants, as one of its authors explained.
Sen. Jacob Howard, co-author of the citizenship clause of the Amendment, declared in 1866:
"Every person born within the limits of the United States, and subject to their jurisdiction, is by virtue of natural law and national law a citizen of the United States This will not, of course, include persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers accredited to the Government of the United States, but will include every other class of persons."
Yet today, U.S. courts and policymakers have re-interpreted the provision to mean any child born in the U.S. becomes an instant citizen, regardless of how its mother gets here. And needless to say, the law is being badly abused.
What's more, when these so-called "anchor babies" turn 21, they can then sponsor other family members, thereby creating a separate phenomenon known as "chain migration." Millions of immigrants have been able to gain legal access to the U.S. using this method.
"Each year, thousands of women enter the United States illegally, knowing that if they can give birth to their child on American soil, the child will thus have U.S. citizenship," says an analysis of the problem by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR.
"Their children immediately qualify for a slew of federal, state, and local benefit programs," says the analysis. FAIR believes there are upwards of 300,000 children born to illegal aliens in the U.S. annually.
Such liberal immigration policy is nearly unprecedented in the world. But other nations that had similar laws – and similar problems – have addressed them.
"The United States is unusual in its offer of citizenship to anyone born on its soil. Only a few European countries still grant automatic citizenship at birth. The United Kingdom and Australia repealed their U.S.-style policies in the 1980s after witnessing abuses similar to those plaguing the U.S. today," FAIR says.
There are very real consequences to this abuse. Besides making a mockery of U.S. immigration law, substantial health and financial hardships are foisted on American communities and taxpayers.
"…The increasing number of illegal aliens coming into the United States is forcing the closure of hospitals, spreading previously vanquished diseases and threatening to destroy America's prized health-care system," reported WorldNetDaily, in a March 13 story.
Madeleine Pelner Cosman, writing in the Spring 2005 issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, says according to her research, 84 California hospitals have been forced to close because they were made to care for rising numbers of illegal aliens, then were never reimbursed for providing that care. She, too, notes that each anchor baby qualifies "instantly" for "welfare benefits" under U.S. law.
A bill currently languishing in the House will correct this injustice. Called the Citizenship Reform Act of 2005 and introduced by Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., it would "amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to deny citizenship at birth to children born in the United States of parents who are not citizens or permanent resident aliens," according to a bill summary. The bill has 26 co-sponsors.
That's the good news. The bad news is, this legislation has been around since at least 2003. Meanwhile, scores more U.S. hospitals have closed and millions more in taxpayer dollars have been spent caring and providing for anchor babies and their families.
No one is suggesting expectant illegal alien mothers be thrown out on the street. But until the automatic citizenship provision enshrined in U.S. law is removed, what incentive do illegals have for remaining in their home countries to have their children?
There is a lot wrong with our nation's immigration system, but this particular problem is one of the easiest to fix.
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