dean’s posterous

August 18, 2009

Dear Dr. Brassfield:

Thank you for expressing your support for H.R. 1868, the Birthright Citizenship Act, which would eliminate birthright citizenship.

The guarantee of citizenship to anyone born within the United States, other than children of ambassadors and foreign enemies, is embodied within the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and that right has been reaffirmed by the Supreme Court.  The Birthright Citizenship Act would change this meaning of the Constitution to deny citizenship to children born in the United States, unless their parents are lawful permanent residents or U.S. citizens.

Revoking birthright citizenship threatens our core constitutional values.  This legislation has been proposed for several Congresses and both the Department of Justice and outside legal experts have testified that it is unconstitutional.

I know that many who support eliminating birthright citizenship are concerned about children born to illegal immigrant parents conferring immigration status to their parents, but a child's U.S. citizenship does not insulate their parents from deportation or other punishment.  Undocumented parents must wait until their American-born offspring turn twenty-one before they can begin the legalization process, and most face an additional ten-year penalty for entering the country illegally.  We should not amend the Constitution because of the current failure of our immigration laws.  We should focus on securing our borders and fixing the immigration system itself.

For these reasons, I do not support the Birthright Citizenship Act.