Center for Immigration Studies Backgrounder

Birthright Citizenship in the United States: A global comparison

Every year, 300,000 to 400,000 children are born to illegal immigrants in the United States. Despite the foreign citizenship and illegal status of the parent, the executive branch of the U.S. government automatically recognizes these children as U.S. citizens upon birth. The same is true of children born to tourists…

HERE

El Paso Times

Juárez cancels Mexican Independence Day celebration

For the first time since the Mexican Revolution, Juárez city government has canceled the festivities of one of Mexico’s most patriotic holidays. — “First comes the safety of the population,” said Juárez Mayor José Reyes Ferriz. “Because of threats, because of criminal activities that exist in Juárez, we don’t want to take any risks.”

NumbersUSA.com

Georgia Receives Green Light From Justice Department on Voter Registration Measure
August 31, 2010 posted on NumbersUSA

The state of Georgia has received final approval from the Justice Department on a tough new voter registration law that will require individuals to prove their citizenship before registering to vote. Georgia joins Arizona as the only two states to have such a measure.

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Rome News-Tribune

Sheriff still awaiting word on immigration program

Several Georgia communities have been rejected from participating in a federal program aimed at helping local authorities remove illegal [aliens…. criminals] who are dangerous from their communities. — And some, like Floyd County, are still waiting for an answer. — Floyd County Sheriff Tim Burkhalter said he applied three years ago for the federally funded 287(g) program…

The ACLU has published a HOW TO manual (Sept. 2008) for the anti-enforcement advocates who ooze out to stop 287(g). It is titled “Local Police and Immigration Laws Workshop” The main talking points from the ACLU are to always “assert” that 287 (g) is a threat to public safety, is “breaking up families” and to constantly assert that local enforcement is un-American… while using the “racial profiling” card.

See page 11 HERE

Atlanta (Journal) Constitution newspaper

Constitution Home Edition
Friday, 9/7/2001
Editorial
page A18

OUR OPINIONS: Bush, Fox should pursue union similar to Europe

/ Staff,

Mexican President Vicente Fox envisions a North American economic alliance that will make the border between the United States and Mexico as unrestricted as the one between Tennessee and Georgia.

Though neither Fox nor President Bush expects to dissolve the 2000-mile border overnight, the Mexican leader clearly prefers sooner rather than later. In Washington this week, Fox surprised his friend and fellow rancher president by calling for sweeping American immigration reform by year’s end.

Currently, U.S. government immigration policy echoes its position on gays in the military: Don’t ask, don’t tell. The nation essentially winks at the estimated 3 million illegal Mexican immigrants toiling in fields, poultry plants and construction sites. If America cracked down and rounded up all those workers, the nation’s agricultural and construction industries would collapse, says Jagdish Sheth, Emory University’s Kellstadt professor of marketing.

Despite American dependence on their labor, undocumented workers still live in the shadows and under threat of deportation, and Fox is right to insist that Mexicans working, paying taxes and obeying the law have ‘’all their legal rights when they’re living here in the United States.'’

Those rights don’t have to spring from legal residency. Some sort of temporary guest worker visas stand a better chance with congressional conservatives than the blanket amnesty suggested last month by the White House. Opponents shot down that trial balloon before it even cleared the tree tops.

In the short-term and during this country’s economic downturn, Bush ought to concentrate on a work permit program that concedes the need for Mexican workers but imposes controls to stem illegal crossings. By loosening border restrictions, Mexicans may eventually return to their homeland, a journey that now entails too many perils. Reflecting the new policy of encouraging citizens to return, Fox said Thursday, “We need you to come home one day and play a part in building a strong Mexico.'’

The United States also must play a part in sustaining Mexico’s economic growth. “For marginal workers, leaving his or her country is not an easy proposition. It is not a lark. It is a risky, dangerous proposition, ” says Juan M. Del Aguila, an Emory University associate professor of political studies. “If we can create incentives for them to stay in their own country, many of these potential immigrants would.”

In boom states like Georgia, it’s been painless to absorb Mexican immigrants. But in the unlikely scenario that the economy hits the skids, migrant labor — whether illegally coming from Mexico or legally from rural Alabama — could snatch jobs away from the local unskilled labor pool.

The ultimate goal of any White House policy ought to be a North American economic and political alliance similar in scope and ambition to the European Union. Unlike the varied landscapes and cultures of European Union members, the United States, Canada and Mexico already share a great deal in common, and language is not as great a barrier. President Bush, for example, is quite comfortable with the blended Mexican-Anglo culture forged in the border states of Texas, California and Arizona.

Of the three North American players, the United States clearly holds the place of dominance. By joining with its neighbors to the north and south, the United States would have the strongest voice in coordinating fiscal, energy and drug enforcement polices that affect the continent.

An erroneous public perception exists that Mexico would be the main beneficiary of a U.S.-Mexico partnership. In the aftermath of the 8-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, Mexico has become the third-largest importer of Georgia products, $1.2 billion worth of goods last year. Mexico is the United States’ second-largest trading partner.

“Fundamentally, our economic integration with Mexico is inevitable, ” says Emory’s Sheth. “Out of nowhere, Mexico has become a $200 billion a year trade partner. We think that will grow to $500 billion.”

“If you look at the European process, not all countries benefit equally all the time, ” says Del Aguila. “But the commonwealth as a whole has improved, the standard of living has risen.”

Historically, immigration has enriched America culturally and economically, as demonstrated most recently by the Cubans in South Florida. The challenge with Mexico is to better manage the natural flow of a people who are not only America’s fastest-growing immigrant group, but also its closest neighbors.

“Our choice is to fight it and lose, ” says Georgia State University economics professor David Sjoquist, “or embrace it and all come out better for it.”

ICE Refuses to Deport “Non-Violent” Illegal Aliens
Updated Friday, August 27, 2010 on NumbersUSA

In a major policy shift, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has issued new guidelines regarding the prosecution of deportation cases: if an illegal alien is not a convicted criminal or terrorist threat, the case should be dropped.

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WorldNetDaily.com

Feds: Smuggled Chinese illegals up 500%

Federal documents show there was a sharp hike in the number of Chinese being smuggled into the United States across its border with Mexico, from 15 in Fiscal Year 2008 to 79 in Fiscal Year 2009, an increase of more than 500 percent. — The Chinese were among the 5,220 people in the “other-than-Mexican” category smuggled into the U.S… HERE

Philidelphia Inquirer

Not all born here are born citizens

The 14th Amendment allows for limits.

By Jan C. Ting
Jan C. Ting is a professor at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law and a former assistant commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service

One of every 12 babies born in the United States has at least one parent who is in the country illegally, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. The Washington Post and others have reported on widespread “birthright tourism,” in which pregnant tourists come to the United States to give birth.

The current interpretation of the 14th Amendment allows all such children, whether born to illegal aliens or temporary tourists, automatic U.S. citizenship. Elected officials have begun to question whether that interpretation is correct and whether it could be changed.

What the 14th Amendment says is: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States. …” The 14th Amendment does not say - or mean - that everyone born here is a citizen.

There are, in fact, many examples of people born in the United States who are not automatically citizens under the 14th Amendment. In every such case, the denial of birthright citizenship is based on the parents’ status

Read more: HERE

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20100824_Not_all_born_here_are_born_citizens.html

KSTU-TV – Salt Lake City

Utah Governor concerned about birthright citizenship

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said Thursday that he’s leaning toward supporting an end to birthright citizenship. The Republican governor made the comments regarding a potential repeal of the 14th Amendment during a taping of his monthly KUED news conference. The constitutional amendment, adopted in 1868…