Marietta Daily Journal

Phil Gingrey: ‘Anchor Babies’

by Dr.Phil Gingrey
Guest Columnist
August 12, 2010

The United States is and always has been a nation of immigrants. For centuries, people have migrated to our country from all over the world in order to live freely, pursue a better way of life, and to escape persecution. Ours is therefore a very diverse country, indeed a land of opportunity where anyone can succeed if they work hard and abide by our laws.

Because we are a welcoming and compassionate society, unfortunately there are those few who seek to circumvent our laws and take advantage of our immigration system. Simply put, the United States cannot be a nation that rewards crime, or that fails to act decisively to deter those who break our laws by entering our country illegally. It is not fair to the many who are waiting patiently to come the right way, and it certainly is not fair to the hardworking taxpayers who ultimately bear the financial burden associated with illegal immigration.

Unfortunately, one of the most egregious incentives to illegal immigration is our allowance of birthright citizenship, whereby the child of illegal immigrants – an “anchor baby” – is born in the United States, automatically making that child a United States citizen. With this practice, we are encouraging the destruction of our immigration laws while simultaneously rewarding those who have broken them.

It is long past time to fix this growing problem, and examining the intent of the 14th Amendment would be a significant step in the right direction. This Amendment was ratified in 1868 primarily as a way to allow former slaves to become U.S. citizens, but in the present day, its misinterpretation also provides for the citizenship of “anchor babies.”

Specifically, section 1 of the 14th Amendment reads: “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.”

Obviously this clause of the 14th Amendment is extremely broad. Not surprisingly, it has been at the center of a number of legal battles, but has not been debated openly within the halls of Congress. We must not allow the 14th Amendment to weaken our immigration laws; particularly since it was ratified seven years before our first federal immigration law was enacted in 1875. Congress must now determine whether our immigration system – and indeed our economy – are being detrimentally served by its existence.

This is precisely why I am an original cosponsor of H.R. 1868 – the Birthright Citizenship Act – that was authored by my former colleague, Nathan Deal. It would help end the practice of “anchor babies” by amending federal immigration law to require at least one parent to be a citizen, a lawful permanent resident, or an alien on active duty in the Armed Forces. In plain words, it would change the interpretation of section 1 of the 14th Amendment to exclude “anchor babies” from birthright citizenship.

This is necessary because one glaring problem facilitated by the current system is that law-abiding taxpayers inevitably foot the bill for its abuse. Given our current economic situation, one must not underestimate the domino effect this causes. Every dollar spent on illegal immigrants is one not dedicated to reducing our deficit or on programs for our citizens. To put this into perspective, consider the following: 10 percent of children born in this country each year are born to illegal immigrants. At a cost of roughly $8,000 for the birth alone, the total up-front cost of “anchor babies” borne by our taxpayers is approximately $3 billion each year. That is equivalent to the cost of keeping the F-22 line in Marietta open – and nearly 100,000 Americans working on its production – for another year.

As other countries do away with granting citizenship to the children of illegals, liberals in Congress are content to allow birthright citizenship to continue here unabated. This is one case where we should follow the lead of the international community. The financial weight of not doing so will only further sink our economy.

Congress needs to take action through legislation like H.R. 1868 before the effects of “anchor babies” are irreversible.

U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) represents Marietta in Congress.

Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal – Phil Gingrey Anchor Babies