State legislators promote ‘anchor baby’ bill

We reported yesterday that several newly-elected state Legislatures are itching to take on the issue of immigration in the new year. This morning we received word (via CNN) that a group called State Legislators for Legal Immigration is preparing a bill that somehow would take away birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to undocumented immigrants — what some people call “anchor babies.” The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution established in 1868 that “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” Courts have interpreted this to mean everyone, with the exception of children of foreign diplomats, and children of another nation’s military occupying the United States. Most business groups continue to oppose any attempt to regulate immigration other than at the federal level.