Section 3: Answer: A proposal to change long-standing federal policy and deny citizenship to babies born to illegal immigrants on U.S. soil ran aground this month in Congress, but it is sure to resurface—kindling bitter debate even if it fails to become law.
At issue is “birthright citizenship”—provided for since the Constitution’s 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868. Section 1 of that amendment, drafted with freed slaves in mind, says: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
Some conservatives in Congress, as well as advocacy groups seeking to crack down on illegal immigration, say the amendment has been misapplied over the years, that it was never intended to grant citizenship automatically to babies of illegal immigrants. Thus they contend that federal legislation, rather than a difficult-to-achieve constitutional amendment, would be sufficient to end birthright citizenship.
“Most Americans feel it doesn’t make any sense for people to come into the country illegally, give birth and have a new U.S. citizen,” said the spokesman of the federation of American immigration reform. “But the advocates for illegal immigrants will make a fuss; they’ll claim you’re punishing the children, and I suspect the leadership doesn’t want to deal with that.”
本月，一项意在改变长期存在的联邦政策、拒绝给予在美非法移民所生的子女的公民身份的提案在国会遭搁浅，但是这个提案定将再次露面――即使不能成为法律，也会引发激烈的争论。
争论的焦点是“与生俱来的公民权”――自1868年批准的宪法第14条修正案以来就对这一权利做了规定。以获得自由的奴隶为本意而起草的该修正案第一款规定：“凡在美国出生或归化美国、且受美国管辖之人，皆为美国公民。”
国会中的一些保守派以及主张对非法移民进行严厉打击的团体认为，此修正案多年来都应用不当，因为其本意并非是自动给予非法移民的子女公民权。所以他们主张通过联邦立法——而不是难以实现的宪法修正案——就足以终结与生俱来的公民权。
“大多数美国人认为，非法进入美国的人在美国生儿养女，这些新生儿却被为美国公民，这是讲不通的，”美国移民改革联合会的发言人说：“但是非法移民的提倡者定会小题大做：他们会说你们是在惩罚孩子，我想这就是领导人们回避此事的原因。”