The great 'anchor baby' debate

Leading Republicans say the 14th Amendment's guarantee of citizenship shouldn't apply to kids of illegal immigrants. Political posturing, or common sense?

A baby born to immigrant parents from Guatemala.
(Image credit: Getty)

Republicans have staked out a new battleground in the fight against illegal immigration. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), among other leading party figures, are arguing that it's time to repeal the portion of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution that is widely interpreted as a guarantee of citizenship to anyone born in the U.S. The goal? To discourage aliens from sneaking into the country to have so-called anchor babies — new-born citizens giving their illegal parents a toehold in the U.S. Is it time to do away with "birthright citizenship"? (Watch Jon Kyl argue in favor of the repeal)

This is political posturing, and it marks a new low for the right: Birthright citizenship has been "the law of the land for the last 142 years, written into constitutional stone," for crying out loud, says Steve Benen in Washington Monthly. This isn't the first time conservatives have tried to win votes by attacking immigrants in a time of "economic anxiety," but it takes their demagoguery to a disgusting new level. Fortunately, they don't have the votes to repeal much of anything at this point.

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