Rep. Brian Bilbray's (R-CA) H.R. 7, "The Citizenship Reform Act," states, in part, that automatic citizenship should not be granted to the children born in the United States to illegal aliens on the grounds that they do not meet the test of being "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States, as contained in the language of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The 14th Amendment was passed as part of the civil rights package
debated by Congress just after the civil war, in order to give citizenship
and voting right to former slaves recently given their freedom in the Civil
War. During the Congressional debate, prior to passage of the 14th
Amendment, Senator Jacob Howard of Michigan, the sponsor of the bill that
eventually became the 14th Amendment, he made it clear that the parents
of children born in the United States must be subject to its jurisdiction
in order for their children to acquire citizenship. At that time,
he added to the phrase contained in the amendment in Section 1, "All persons
born in the United
States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the
United States."
At the time the Amendment passed, American Indians residing in the United States were considered not to be subject to its jurisdiction and children born to American Indians did not acquire citizenship. Subsequently, in the 1920s, Congress, which was given the sole authority to make jurisdictional determinations under the 14th Amendment, passed legislation, specifically granting American Indians and children born to them in the United States citizenship.
The situation that exists today, is quite different. Hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens, who have broken our immigration laws by illegally entering the country, are giving birth to children who are granted automatic citizenship.
While there has been a case, "U.S. v. Kim Wong Ark," heard by the Supreme Court in 1898, which ruled that the child born in the United States of a couple who were foreign nationals of China was born a citizen. The difference is that the parents were legally residing in the U.S. and would not have been subject to H.R. 7. If enacted, H.R. 7 would only apply to children of aliens not residing legally in the United States. H.R. 7 would clarify that aliens not residing legally are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
Aliens coming to the United States illegally and having children in California, Texas and Florida, to name only three have created great fiscal burdens on the taxpayers of those states. In California alone, it has been documented by Medi-Cal records that close to 100,000 children are born to the parents who are illegal aliens. With the Immigration and Naturalization Service's estimate that over five million illegal aliens now reside in the United States, you can readily see that this has become a huge and very expensive national problem.
Many illegal aliens are known to exploit their children born here by using welfare funds to which their "anchor babies," as citizens, are entitled to support their families with food stamps, funds from Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and WIC program funds. In addition, these children will continue to cost taxpayers billions of dollars in welfare and educational support for many years to come. Then, when they reach 21 years of age, they can petition to provide their parents and other family members legal status.
We must determine whether we should support the benefits of citizenship for those who have bypassed the proper method of legally entering the country. It is an affront to the millions of people who have waited patiently to enter the country legally, only to have those who ignore the law by illegally gaining entry and obtain certain benefits, such as automatic citizenship for the children born on U.S. soil.
Finally, we must consider how much we cherish our nation's sovereignty and the precious right of citizenship. Should we grant this right to anyone who can get here by any means, especially by breaking the law to do so? It is the responsibility of Congress to make the laws that govern our nation. It is specifically written into the law that they have the responsible for regulating the 14th Amendment. They did it when they determined the rights of Indians in the 1920's and they must do it in the case of granting automatic citizenship for the children of illegal aliens.