14th Amendment Pipe Dreams

“When your enemy is bent on committing suicide, just get out of the way.”  Thanks to the call for a repeal of the 14th amendment, Republicans are handing the Democrats a gift that could keep on giving through  a generation of election cycles.

In deference to tea-party activists, Republican leaders now claim they want to debate possible changes in the 14th amendment of the Constitution, with the goal of denying birthright citizenship to children of illegal Mexican immigrants who are born in the U.S.

Hispanic voters present and future, will not likely forget the rhetoric that accompanied the debate, with talk of “anchor babies” being “dropped.”

Even far-right ideologue Alan Keyes knows this is a risky turn in the debate, and he chastised the once-sober Lindsey Graham for jumping on the bandwagon. ”

“Now let me see, if birthright citizenship is not a birthright, then it must be a grant of the government,” Keyes said. “ And if it is a grant of the government, then it could be curtailed in all the ways that fascists and totalitarians always want to.”

Countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and many others do not confer birthright citizenship on immigrants to the country, particularly those who go there to work.  The effect is to have a group of citizens who never receive full rights under law, who are entitled to work but to little else, even for generations.

That is the situation that faced the US, when the 14th amendment was being considered to give citizenship to freed slaves and their descendants.  Despite racist fears of the “yellow peril,” posed by Chinese immigrant workers, the Congress passed the amendment in 1868. Since then, every person born in the U.S. regardless of their parent’’s country of origin- except diplomats – are American citizens.

Now. in 2010, we have constitutional scholars like John Boehner, John Kyl,  Mitch McConnell and John McCain calling for a “review” of the 14th amendment in an effort to deny citizenship to the children of illegal Mexican immigrants.

John Kyl says illegal immigrants are being “rewarded,” with American citizenship of their children.  Since when are children held legally responsible for the actions of their parents before their birth?  And aren’t undocumented workers still undocumented after the birth of their children? And how does denying citizenship to  US born children of Mexican immigrants keep employers from hiring undocumented workers?

Rachel Maddow recently pointed out that politicians know constitution is very hard to change, and this “review,” should it happen, will not make it very far. The idea instead seems to be to get people to accept a different interpretation of the amendment. That might work on the teabaggers, but the rest of know they are just blowing smoke.