Arizona Immigration Law Architects Turn Sights On 14th Amendment, Birthright Citizenship

Two of the legislative brains behind Arizona's controversial SB 1070 immigration law are now seeking to draft a bill that would cut down 14th Amendment protections, including perhaps the guarantee of birthright citizenship, provided to the children of illegal immigrants.

State Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, and Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, both sponsors of the state's recently passed strict immigration law, are spearheading a new effort to create legislation that, according to the Arizona Republic, "targets the children, possibly by adding notation on their state birth certificates that would identify them as children of illegal immigrants."

Though the final details have not been hammered out, and the Arizona Republic reports that any such bill would not be proposed until at least January, both Pearce and Kavanagh appear confident that the current dynamic of state and national politics makes it a promising time for the passage of such a measure.

If passed, however, the state of Arizona could be tempting additional lawsuits from the federal government, which has already mounted multiple legal challenges against SB 1070.

According to the Arizona Republic:

States have oversight over birth certificates and, to an extent, over who can receive state services, but citizenship is a federal issue. Creating different birth certificates, or giving different people different levels of access to state services based on information on birth certificates, would open the state to federal lawsuits. The lawsuits could argue that the state is pre-empting federal authority and violating federal laws that say all citizens are due equal protection.

But that might be exactly where the architects want their current plans to lead. According to Rep. Kavanagh, the ultimate goal of the legislation would be to get the Supreme Court to reconsider the current interpretation of the 14th Amendment, which allows for any child born in the United States to be given American citizenship.

Comments

[JoeLeland]

10:20 PM on 10/19/2010

FACT: Sneak in the U.S. from Mexico and this is what you'll get for breaking the law:
A job
A credit card
A home loan/mortgage
A business loan
A drivers license
Free public education for the kids
Free Health Care
A fake SS #
And billion dollar pile of lobbyists in D.C. documents, books and texts translated to their language and the right to wave their flag and protest that they are not being treated fairly.

[Kenz300]

09:00 PM on 10/19/2010

We need to look at legal immigration and the jobs that are outsourced
to H1B visa immigrants. Why are we not restricting legal immigration
when we have an unemployment rate of 9.6% and an under employment rate
of 17.% It is time to look at our whole immigration policy and see what we can do to hire
Americans for these jobs instead of bringing in H1B visa employees.

American employers and the Chamber of Commerce are only looking for cheap labor
and they are not worried about supporting American workers or communities.

[dhinds]

08:17 PM on 10/12/2010

Pearce and Kavanagh introduced SB1070 to the AZ Senate but did not author it. Kris Kobach did.

[Janicot]

05:25 PM on 10/12/2010

How about stamping a "J" on their identity cards and making them wear yellow stars on their clothing?

[spytheweb]

08:19 PM on 10/17/2010

How about having a connection to the country you're going to be a citizen of?

"Daddy what did you do in the war? I wasn't in the war son, i was a dirt farmer in Mexico like you're grandfather before i snuck across the border."

[SyphonFilter]

01:09 PM on 10/03/2010

Republican Polls says our federal and state governments should be focusing on "JOBS." Which is understandable considering the economic environment. So what does Arizona do? Try to change the 14th amendment for the opportunity to put an asterik mark on undocumented babies. Real Genius - Those in the Arizona Legislature. Arizona is way out of touch with reality. Their state economy is suffering with the decisions they made with SB1070 and probably with this new 14th amendment fiasco. What's really happening here is that the Arizona Republican party is so weak and does not know how to deal with issues and find good and concrete answers to the solve the problem so they resort to the easiest trick in the playbook of politics and that is to blame another race for their problems. True, I am not defending the undocumented who are here illegally. Yes, they broke the law. But it doesn't give the Republican party in Arizona the right to use them for their excuse as to why Arizona is economically and image wise awful. Imperial Wizard Jan Brewer lied about beheadings. She has 2 lobbyists from the private prison contractors on her staff to guide her to the bribes and lobby money. They lied about the undocumented stealing jobs and running up costs in health care and in welfare services. I guess when you are so inept at trying to run the State government and do not know how to legislate, you resort to these shenanigans.

[redstateblues69]

02:45 PM on 10/03/2010

The AZ economy slipped because of it's dependency upon growth and the housing market. This was a national crisis that hit states like AZ, NV and FL particularly hard. However, tourism is still a booming industry because boycotts are generally ineffective. We own a business in a tourist destination up north and our bottom line has seen increases we haven't experienced in years. My speculation is that the rich are now staying in the country and seeing the USA. Also, the buycott folks are out in force and can't wait to part with their money to enhance the AZ economy.

The illegals left when the national economy crashed. Yes, they are a drain on public coffers. Whether their contributions compensate for $3 billion they use in services is up for debate with several studies  giving contradictory results. However, now that the jobs are gone, it is time for them to return home or migrate elsewhere. Although I don't agree with SB 1070, it is working. there are no ELL students in our local school district now.

All those voter registrations for Democrats promised after the protests and marches aren't materializing either. There are more Republican registrations than Dems. Unfortunately, we'll see Republican rule again. And I wish these right wingers would shut up about the birth citizenship issue. It is very difficult to change the constitution!  

[goodpyr]

10:05 PM on 09/28/2010

Requirements for U.S. citizenship are set down by the Federal Government,not a couple
of minor state political hacks.Even McCain and the rest of the crackpots in Arizona won't
go for that one.They're just making noise for political notice.
A couple of jokes.

[augustfirst]

01:02 PM on 09/27/2010

Honestly....

if you are here illegally, why should you (or your children) get citizenship?

[Contact1972]

11:14 PM on 09/27/2010

If a child is born here, they are citizens.

[Janicot]

05:33 PM on 10/12/2010

Because the Constitution says so. You know, that Constitution that conservatives insist must be read and interpreted literally.

[Contact1972]

12:26 AM on 09/27/2010

Let them try. No way they will even come close to getting rid of the 14th Ammendment.

[Andreams]

03:31 PM on 10/12/2010

Think about our current Supreme Court and then reconsider your statement. I don't feel confident about anything involving them.

[Janicot]

05:42 PM on 10/12/2010

The SCOTUS can only move to rescind a federal constitutional amendment on flawed procedural grounds. It would be rather difficult to do that 142 years after the fact.

[andiannj]

11:48 PM on 09/26/2010

I live in Pearce's district in Mesa. Mesa, AZ is one of the most corrupt cities in the US.
http://www.mesaazcorruptionreport.com/index/

[SyphonFilter]

01:16 PM on 10/03/2010

Thanks for reporting and putting light to this matter. I read the link you gave us, and I am honestly appalled at what is going on in the Pearce district in Mesa. Wow, it's like a zoo full of Republican animals preying on the Undocumented. I read the article about how they are targeting the hispanic hotdog vendors, and I also read the report about how Mesa put 300 businesses out of business. This is Apartheid in America. It's the systematic system of flushing out the jews, but instead it's the Hispanics. It's a damn shame!! Thank you for keeping us abreast as to what is going on in Arizona. Please continue to do so. So that we can give a voice to the powerless.

[andiannj]

11:32 PM on 09/26/2010

I like how Russell Pearce brags about his ancestors Harrison & James Pearce on his political bio page, completely ignoring their real claim to fame.

A perfect example of the mob mentality being led by the criminal mind.
http://1857massacre.com/MMM/harrison_pearce.htm

[Reno Fickler]

11:08 PM on 09/25/2010

"birthright" is from Old English Law and was carefully eliminated during the framing of our Constitution. The short version is "a minor child has the same status as their parents".
There's a part of the Constitution that deals with citizenship, read it and let us know what you think.

[eduardo fernandez]

08:45 PM on 09/23/2010

Criminal chasing criminals ?

Officials: Sheriff Joe's Office Charged Luxury Trips To County, Misused Up To $80 Million

oe Arpaio, the Arizona sheriff infamous due to his attention-grabbing immigration enforcement related stunts and the accusations his office discriminates against Latinos, allegedly misused millions in funds intended for jail operations, Maricopa County officials said Wednesday.

Excerpts of the reports, obtained by TPMMuckraker, show officials from Arpaio's office made trips to Orlando, D.C., Honduras, Tempe, Belize, Alaska and Puerto Rico on the county's dime and racked up other questionable expenses, like $741 at Sardella's Pizza and Wings. The county was also charged $350 for a hotel room upgrade for one official's spouse. One employee went on multiple extradition trips without submitting receipts for the $62,750 he or she spent -- including $1,341 on Disney World Yacht Club Resort food and entertainment.

Others expenses charged to the county, according to the report, include $1,684 for a portable generator for parade lights on an army tank; $635 at Buca di Beppo when members of the Honduran National Police were in town; and $500 on a carriage ride.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/09/officials_sheriff_joes_office_charged_luxury_trips_misused_up_to_possible_80_million.php?ref=mblt

[andiannj]

11:56 PM on 09/26/2010

We pay 5 million in Maricopa County just for insurance because of all the Sheriff Joe lawsuits, and considering his record, we're lucky to get that good of a rate.

[eduardo fernandez]

01:08 AM on 09/27/2010

He is an elected official I presume is there no support to vote him out ?

[Sean777]

12:20 AM on 09/15/2010

Russell Pearce is linked to NSM gang member J.T Ready so Pearce’s republican affiliation is just a cover-up to impose a National Socialist agenda.

Russell Pearce & J.T Ready National Socialist Movement Connection
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsHi6_l1XzA
Arizona Hate groups
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVikqcV0GF4&feature=related
NSM Phoenix swastika flag
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVlMH8b7pYY&feature=related
Tom Metsker-The Insurgent plot: Lone wolf Russell Pearce (Phony Republican party affiliation as cover-up of white supremacist agenda)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKpzwDUafRY&feature=related
J.T Ready “Nazi Germany was a great country”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey7JtRzpcmA
The Tanton network-FAIR-Nazi Eugenics agenda
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvBwuAtetl4

We need to change the requirements for filing candidacy for all government positions. All candidates shall pass a FBI background check clean of affiliations to extremist hate groups like the Tom Metsker lone wolves plot, the Tanton network and the NSM among others.

[healthcarenow]

11:39 PM on 09/18/2010

How are we going to enforce FBI background check, when AZ doesn't even attempt to comply with employer validation of citizenship, even thought the software is readily available.

[Sean777]

12:19 AM on 09/15/2010

Nobody is supporting illegal immigration, no democrats nor republicans, we all agree that immigrants shall enter and reside in the country legally but the current laws are obsolete and we did not have the technology to enforce the laws before, now we do, the problem of immigration is technological not political we can secure the border with unmanned aircraft surveillance to hunt down smugglers along all our borders and a biometric identification system can track down all visitors and their visa expirations. But we can not afford to deport the 11 million people already here the enforcement approach will cost trillions of dollars to our economy in recovery. There is no amnesty being discussed as no green cards are planed to be grated to illegals immediately they will have to wait 8 years paying taxes without accessing benefits as part of their penalty before earning the right to apply for a permanent residency meaning they can be citizens only after 14 years that’s far more severe than the fine only approach proposed in 2007. Discussions about modifying the 14th amendment maybe reasonable for incoming immigrants within an immigration reform context but any changes on rules for citizenship can not be applied retroactively in a practical way like some “republican” politicians of Arizona are proposing.

[azlegalcitizen]

01:31 AM on 09/15/2010

The oncoming AZ bill by Cavanaugh and Pearce does NOT change anyone's status retroactivily. It is for the future illegal's births of their kids here.

[Sean777]

03:59 PM on 09/15/2010

That’s the position of Senator Graham a true Republican; Pearce wants to deport all “Anchor babies” U.S citizens.

[wyb]

11:30 PM on 09/14/2010

Let's help AZ succeed from the US. They can set up their own illiterate, obese, pistol packing, toothless utopia, without our subsidy. Send five bucks now to S.S. Pierce and Mime Brewer to send them Texas, Mississipi, Somali, or any other twin sister state that will support them..

[healthcarenow]

11:40 PM on 09/18/2010

If only........