Here's an article from today's Denver Post dealing with the issue of children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants [December 8, 2005, "Tancredo: Illegal immigrants' babies shouldn't be citizens"]. From the article, "It's been a cornerstone of American law since shortly after the Civil War: Children born in the United States become citizens, even if their parents are here illegally. Now some conservatives - including U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado - are taking aim at that birthright. They call the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants 'anchor babies' because at age 18 the children can apply to bring other family members here from abroad. A growing group of House Republicans wants to change the policy. They hope to add a provision to the immigration bill that the House of Representatives will consider next week that would deny automatic citizenship to those children...Because of widespread opposition in the House and even more in the Senate, the measure is unlikely to become law, and would face a constitutional challenge in court if it did.
But it promises to make the debate over illegal immigration even more divisive and could reverberate in next year's midterm elections...According to the Constitution's 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868 to give former slaves U.S. citizenship, 'all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.' Tancredo said citizens of other countries are not subject to U.S. jurisdiction, and he added that drafters of the 14th Amendment did not intend it to apply to children of illegal immigrants."
Political Wire: "'The budding presidential ambitions of' Virginia Gov. Mark Warner (D) 'were nourished last night with the commodity all national political aspirants need -- a large dose of cash,' the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. 'Warner's new political-action committee, called Forward Together, collected more than $2.5 million during its first fundraiser, setting a record for Virginia politics.'"
Category: 2008 Presidential Election
6:09:35 AM 
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