14 States To Tackle Birthright Citizenship
Seriously? According to a recent report, 14 states have legislators who are set to file bills about birthright citizenship this year. That is, they are going to propose laws that would end the 14th Amendment’s allowance for people being born in the U.S. to be citizens. These are the states with these brilliant legislators: Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Utah.
There’s so much stupidity in the very idea of this proposition that I find it hard to begin. The first question that comes to mind, however, is, if the 14th Amendment no longer decides who is a U.S. citizen, who gets to decide — legislators in Arizona? I believe that would be the correct answer. You know, for all this talk about “big government” and 1984-like policies, I find that conservative politicians are the ones who are all-too-willing to use the government to intrude on intimate aspects of our lives.
I certainly don’t trust some lawmaker from Texas or Montana (less than a million population!) or Arizona to interpret for me what the best way for this country’s birthright citizenship laws is. I’m tempted to say that most of this is just pandering to the extreme right, however, I have this sinking feeling that some of it is actually real. It would be a travesty for our country’s traditions and laws to be compromised for a short-term political rally.
[Photo By U.S. Government]