Forget about the Dreamers, I'll just target newborns.
In the annals of stellar ideas courtesy of Republicans, the House Judiciary Committee is
holding a hearing Wednesday about birthright citizenship, titled, "Is it the right policy for America?"
It happens to be more than just a "policy." In fact, it's a law emanating from the 14th Amendment that automatically confers citizenship on anyone born here. But perfectly in keeping with the GOP's "papers please" crowd, Iowa Rep. Steve King would like to require that every child born in the U.S. prove that one of their parents is either a citizen or a legal resident.
The idea, also backed by Louisiana Sen. David Vitter—who wants to close the birthright citizenship "loophole"—is just one more in a long line of wildly anti-immigrant efforts that have flowed from the 114th Congress. A new report from the Alliance for Citizenship found, unsurprisingly, that the Republican-led 114th has already racked up 20 immigration hearings, taken 12 anti-immigrant votes, and hosted 12 GOP "expert" witnesses who are connected to anti-immigrant hate groups.
Marshall Fitz imagines how such a policy, envisioned by King and Vitter, might play out.
Making such a system work would require a new and cumbersome bureaucracy, bringing the Department of Homeland Security into every delivery room across the country. We would need a new federalized birth registry in order to ensure that citizenship status is allocated properly, something that is currently in the hands of states and localities. To put things in perspective: Roughly 4 million children are born in the U.S. every year, each of whom would encounter vast bureaucratic red tape. Instead of reducing unauthorized immigration, such a change could actually increase the numbers of people stuck in limbo, without legal status or nationality, as parents struggle to register their children for citizenship.
Now doesn't that sound like the ideal solution to our country's immigration woes?
11:20 AM PT: UPDATE: This just in from the hearing...
.@SteveKingIA says its debatable if slavery was major cause of civil war.. #immigration #HJC
— @jbreisblatt
