Cross-posted at PoliticalReformer.com
Russell Pearce is at it again. Mr. Pearce is the state senator who authored SB1070, the Arizona law which obligates police to make an attempt, whenever practicable -- to determine a person's immigration status if there is reasonable suspicion that the individual is in the country illegally, following a stop by law enforcement. Now, Phoenix news station KPHO is reporting that his next target is the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That amendment, which guarantees some of the nation's most important citizenship rights related to equal protection and due process, was passed in 1868, during the aftermath of the Civil War. In the 142 years since, it has become one of the great foundations of American Law.
According to the KPHO news report, State Senator Pearce has stated that he intends “to push for an Arizona bill that would refuse to accept or issue a birth certificate that recognizes citizenship to those born to illegal aliens, unless one parent is a citizen.” Although clarification of Pearce’s statement will be necessary in the days ahead, it is clear that he is, in effect, seeking to nullify section 1 of the 14th Amendment, which states:
“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. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
As to whether his proposal will discriminate against birth mothers, Pearce has included documents from supporters which back his efforts, including one that rationalizes the likelihood of this bias: ”If we are going to have an effect on the anchor baby racket, we need to target the mother. Call it sexist,” the supporter says, “but that’s the way nature made it. Men don’t drop anchor babies, illegal alien mothers do.” Anchor baby is a reference used by anti-immigrant groups to derisively describe an American-born child whose parents are undocumented.
Just a few days ago, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul of Kentucky caused a national firestorm over objections he made to key provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Now, Republican Russell Pearce of Arizona, is making a direct threat to the 14th Amendment, which was, in large part, aimed at correcting the injustices caused by the system of American slavery and the infamous Dred Scott Decision of 1857, which declared that African-Americans were not citizens of the United States, and, therefore, did not have the protections of the U.S. Constitution.
Ironically, the 14th Amendment was intended to protect Americans — including the native born whose parents are not citizens — from exactly the sort of state encroachment upon civil rights that Mr. Pearce is proposing to legislate.
View the KPHO news report and read the full text of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution at PoliticalReformer.com.