Proponents of repeal argue that the 14th Amendment was passed after the Civil War to guarantee citizenship to freed slaves, and that it was never intended to grant rights to the offspring of illegal aliens. But this argument is a non sequitur. At the time of the adoption of the amendment, there was no category of "illegal alien" because immigration was unrestricted and unregulated. If you secured passage to the United States, or simply walked across the open border with Mexico or Canada, you could stay permanently as a resident alien or apply to be naturalized after a certain number of years. And if you happened to give birth while still an alien, your child was automatically a citizen—a right dating back to English common law. (Emphasis added by Jamie)
For all of your "traditionalist" yearnings for what you think the Founders believed, you might want to consider things like the harkening back to English common law cited here, the printing of the Declaration of Independence on Hemp paper, etc. Much like religion, it may suit you to pick and choose from our history what is sacred and what isn't--but that doesn't make you right. Calls to alter the US Constitution every time you don't like something (abortion, same sex marriage, immigration) serve only to demonstrate your lack of comprehension of what the word Freedom really means.
It means freedom from people like you.
1 comment:
good reminder, I'm so tired of people throwing the term 'consitution' around but never bothering to study or learn about it, same goes for the prop 8 case, if they bothered to read the transcript they'd be hard pressed to rule any other way.
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