Lindsey Graham: 'Birthright Citizenship Is A Mistake,' 'We Should Change Constitution

[bobbyw24]

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) says that the United States should end its policy of guaranteeing citizenship to the children of undocumented immigrants as ensured by the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The South Carolina Senator defined his stance on the immigration issue on Wednesday in an interview with Fox News host Greta Van Susteren.

"Birthright citizenship I think is a mistake," explained Graham. "We should change our Constitution and say if you come here illegally and you have a child, that child's automatically not a citizen."

Graham signaled his intent to introduce a constitutional amendment to change the existing immigration law as it stands today.

"People come here to have babies," argued the Republican lawmaker. "They come here to drop a child. It's called "drop and leave. To have a child in America, they cross the border, they go to the emergency room, have a child, and that child's automatically an American citizen. That shouldn't be the case. That attracts people here for all the wrong reasons."

Graham dismissed the notion that his position is in any way controversial.

"I'm a practical guy, but when you go forward, I don't want 20 million more 20 years from now," he explained. "I want to be fair. I want to be humane. We need immigration policy, but it should be on our terms, not someone else's. I don't know how to fix it all. But I do know what makes people mad, that 12 million people came here, and there seems to be no system to deal with stopping 20 million 20 years from now."

YouTube - Lindsey Graham on Birthright Citizenship

 

[Jeremy]

If Ron Paul didn't support this, I bet people would be going crazy here.

 

[FSP-Rebel]

As usual, Lindsey is late to the party. In fact, I doubt he really means this, he's just trying to cover his ass since El Rushbo, Savage and Levin have been calling him a RINO.

 

[axiomata]

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) says that the United States should end its policy of guaranteeing citizenship to the children of undocumented immigrants as ensured by the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The South Carolina Senator defined his stance on the immigration issue on Wednesday in an interview with Fox News host Greta Van Susteren.

"Birthright citizenship I think is a mistake," explained Graham. "We should change our Constitution and say if you come here illegally and you have a child, that child's automatically not a citizen."

Graham signaled his intent to introduce a constitutional amendment to change the existing immigration law as it stands today.

"People come here to have babies," argued the Republican lawmaker. "They come here to drop a child. It's called "drop and leave. To have a child in America, they cross the border, they go to the emergency room, have a child, and that child's automatically an American citizen. That shouldn't be the case. That attracts people here for all the wrong reasons."

Graham dismissed the notion that his position is in any way controversial.

"I'm a practical guy, but when you go forward, I don't want 20 million more 20 years from now," he explained. "I want to be fair. I want to be humane. We need immigration policy, but it should be on our terms, not someone else's. I don't know how to fix it all. But I do know what makes people mad, that 12 million people came here, and there seems to be no system to deal with stopping 20 million 20 years from now."

YouTube - Lindsey Graham on Birthright Citizenship

Don't like agreeing with him but he's mostly right.

I would reword his quote to this: "Birthright citizenship I think is a mistake," explained Graham. "We should change our Constitution and say if you come here illegally and you have a child, that child is not automatically a citizen."

The illegality of the mother should not come into play in determining whether the kid gets citizenship. I also don't think a kid whose parents came illegally while he was in the oven should be deported (once the birthright citizenship interpretation is changed.) I would support making children born in the US legal immigrants at birth, but would wait for them to graduate high school and pass a naturalization test at 18 to grant them citizenship.

 

[RM918]

The constitution does not need to be changed, the language in there already is fine if it weren't for the fact we were ignoring it. 'And subject to the jurisdiction thereof'. Even the people who wrote that amendment admitted it shouldn't apply to people who were just passing in.

 

[Reason]

The constitution does not need to be changed, the language in there already is fine if it weren't for the fact we were ignoring it. 'And subject to the jurisdiction thereof'. Even the people who wrote that amendment admitted it shouldn't apply to people who were just passing in.

Interesting.

 

[Southron]

He's getting worried, just like McCain.

 

[Anti Federalist]

Meh, broken clock rule.

Every little bit helps I suppose.

 

[angelatc]

He's getting worried, just like McCain.

Ron Paul is runnin' his party, you know.

 

[HOLLYWOOD]

Well, I guess Lindsey Graham needs a need gimmick to offset his policies of killing innocent people around the world, killing Americans, and stealing the Taxpayer's money for his own global conquests.

Yeah, like this is going to deflect his NEOCON FREEDOM STEALING & WARMONGERING.

Nice Try Lindsey Graham... you can't hide behind a brick.

PS: Lindsey Graham couldn't pull a original bill out of his ass if he tired... the snake only jumps upon populist movements after he's seen the poll numbers. What a POS!

 

[james1906]

Moot point. The babies are getting amnesty along with the parents.

 

[constituent]

. 'And subject to the jurisdiction thereof'.

/facepalm

You do realize that you make "illegals" "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" when you subject them to the jurisdiction of fedgov through the immigration regulatory regime, right?

 

[squarepusher]

considering Lindsey is usually wrong about everything he says, I'm not sure what to think of this.

 

[Koz]

considering Lindsey is usually wrong about everything he says, I'm not sure what to think of this.

+1, but I think he may be correct here. I am having to rethink my reasoning since he made these comments.

 

[bobbyw24]

+1, but I think he may be correct here. I am having to rethink my reasoning since he made these comments.

For real

 

[YumYum]

I'd rather see the Constitution changed where it says that Congress has the right to borrow money. Change that and people wouldn't be coming here to have babies.

 

[dean.engelhardt]

Well, I guess Lindsey Graham needs a need gimmick to offset his policies of killing innocent people around the world, killing Americans, and stealing the Taxpayer's money for his own global conquests.

Yeah, like this is going to deflect his NEOCON FREEDOM STEALING & WARMONGERING.

Nice Try Lindsey Graham... you can't hide behind a brick.

PS: Lindsey Graham couldn't pull a original bill out of his ass if he tired... the snake only jumps upon populist movements after he's seen the poll numbers. What a POS!

So correct.

 

[erowe1]

We don't need to change the Constitution.

The 14th Amendment says:

Section 1. 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.

Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

The purpose of the birthright citizenship in the 14th Amendment wasn't to let any and all foreigners cross our border just to have a kid here so that the kid becomes a citizen, it was to make former slaves into citizens. All Congress has to do is enact legislation recognizing this according to the authority vested in it in Section 5 of the 14th Amendment (which was something John Hostettler tried to do in a bill he was pushing while in Congress). There's already precedent for this. When foreign diplomats have babies here their babies don't get birthright citizenship.

 

[constituent]

When foreign diplomats have babies here their babies don't get birthright citizenship.

That's because foreign diplomats are not "subject to the jurisdiction thereof."

Diplomatic immunity is a principle of international law by which certain foreign government officials are not subject to the jurisdiction of local courts and other authorities.
http://www.ediplomat.com/nd/diplomatic_immunity.htm

Immigrants on the other hand, as long as you maintain that fedgov is in charge of immigration, are in fact "subject to the jurisdiction thereof."

HTH

 

[erowe1]

That's because foreign diplomats are not "subject to the jurisdiction thereof."

Right. You'll notice I bolded that.

Immigrants on the other hand, as long as you maintain that fedgov is in charge of immigration, are in fact "subject to the jurisdiction thereof."

Again, according to Section 5 of the 14th Amendment, that's for Congress to decide (just as the example of diplomatic immunity and babies born to diplomats is the result of acts of Congress). Congress has the authority right now to pass a law saying that babies born to people here illegally do not automatically become citizens. They don't need a new constitutional amendment to give them the authority that the 14th Amendment already explicitly gives them.

As a matter of fact, we can take this a step further. According to the 14th Amendment, there is no such thing (legally and constitutionally) as birthright citizenship for the babies of illegal immigrants unless and until Congress positively acts under the authority vested in it in Section 5 of the 14th Amendment to legislate explicitly that they do have birthright citizenship. Without such an act of Congress no such application of the 14th Amendment would be constitutional.