Kerry op-ed on the Republican attacks on the 14th amendment

[karynnj]

It was stunning to see a senior senator declare, “I’m not sure exactly what the drafters of the 14th Amendment had in mind, but I doubt it was that somebody could fly in from Brazil and have a child and fly back home with that child, and that child is forever an American citizen.”

Stunning, first, because in a year when we lost Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), guardian of the Senate’s history and defender of the Constitution, some senators need reminding that the 14th Amendment was born of a determination to end forever any question, any effort to enshrine in our laws a kind of second-class citizenship.

The amendment’s authors purposely chose an objective standard of citizenship, one not subject to politics: birth.

<snip>

There is no epidemic of people “flying in” just to have their children born as U.S. citizens — and every senator knows it. Just as they know it takes more than two decades for a child born in America to sponsor anyone for immigration — which means no back door for undocumented parents to become citizens on the sly

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/40981.html#ixzz0wPJf8R4y

Kerry really hits the Republicans for playing politics on this. This is an op-ed worth reading.

[ProSense]

1. Excellent,

an exceptionally well-written op-ed that nails the GOP's dangerous rheotoric.

The idea of repealing the 14th Amendment is just the latest example of how small our politics has become. This is so bad as to be laughable, were its implications not so grave. In America, we do not practice or believe in communal punishment. There are about 4 million kids legally in the United States but born to undocumented parents.

To deny them citizenship would create a generation of stateless children. We cannot force their parents’ countries to embrace them, nor should we reject them. They have done nothing wrong. They are born innocent.

If we repeal the amendment, how would we enforce our new citizenship standard? Would we station federal immigration agents in delivery rooms? Will every birth trigger an immigration investigation into the parents’ status? Do we want to amend the U.S. Constitution, the greatest document of liberty and freedom, so we can start deporting newborns?

[karynnj]

3. The complete lack of concern for the kids who really know no other country says a lot about the

Republicans.

Though intellectually I understood how wrong the Republicans are on this, it was not until I was speaking to one of my sisters, who has a 9 year old adopted son from Guatamala. She spoke of how he was terrified by what he heard on tv - and he asked her if he had a "green ticket". My sister said she was confused and asked him more - and found he was asking about a green card. She then assured him that he was legally adopted and a citizen. Still he persisted, do you know where those papers are because I might need them. He was especially concerned about what would happen if they visited another of his aunts in Arizona. If they had no papers for him, would they send him back to Guatemala where he didn't know anyone and could only speak a little Spanish.

Reading this, although his personal concerns are overblown and unrealistic, those are real concerns for these innocent children.

[blm]

2. How SMALL our politics have become....indeed

.

[ProSense]

4. This is really a great piece. n/t

[KakistocracyHater]

5. if the 14th WERE abolished, I keep thinking how far back can they go in

denying citizenship? Your Great-Grandmother? Your Mother? Where would they draw the citizenship-by-birth line?

[karynnj]

7. The 14th amendment has more than just this very important part

It is the basis of much of what we think of as equality today.

[babylonsister]

6. Thank you; sorry I missed this, as it should be read by so many

more. I still love John Kerry. :patriot:

[BlueIris]

8. K&R & thanks for that SANITY, Senator K. nt

[DailyGrind51]

9. Yeah, they mess with the 14th Amendment, but don't even think about messing with the 2nd!

Republican hypocrites!

[wisteria]

10. Thank you for posting this so a wider readership could see this good commentary.

Unfortunately, many of Senator Kerry's excellent op-ed's get to little notice.

[depakid]

11. This whole "issue" is so Kafkaesque that I haven't really even been following it

:crazy: