Reps. Henry Brown, Geoff Davis, and Rodney Alexander Sponsor Birthright Citizenship Act

Overview

Birthright Citizenship is the practice of offering automatic citizenship to children born in the United States. Under current federal law, all children born in the U.S. receive automatic citizenship, but this practice had created a magnet for foreign nationals who want their children to have citizenship in the United States.

Traditionally, nations that offer Birthright Citizenship do so to increase its own population. Most developed nations have ended the practice of Birthright Citizenship or have never offered it in the first place. The United States is the most populated nation to still offer Birthright Citizenship

A bill to repeal Birthright Citizenship has been offered in the House of Representatives by former Georgia Congressman Nathan Deal. After Rep. Deal's resignation to run for governor, the bill's sponsorship was taken over by California Congressman Gary Miller.

The Immigration and Nationality Act defines Birthright Citizenship in the United States, but it's also a clause in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. However, the Supreme Court has never interpreted the Birthright Citizenship clause as it applies to illegal aliens - only legal immigrants.

Analysis of Birthright Citizenship bills offered in Congress

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Birthright Citizenship

Wednesday, June 10, 2009, 3:37 PM EST - posted on NumbersUSA

Rep. Henry Brown, Rep. Geoff Davis & Rep. Rodney Alexander

Elected Officials Who...

Sponsored the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2011 (H.R.140)
Updated Tuesday, January 24, 2012, 11:50 AM EST - posted on NumbersUSA

Total 81 Sponsors

(AL) Alderholt
(AL) Bachus
(AL) Brooks
(AL) Rogers
(AL) Schweikert
(AZ) Franks
(AR) Crawford
(AR) Griffin
(AR) Womack
(CA) Bilbray
(CA) Calvert
(CA) Campbell
(CA) Herger
(CA) Hunter
(CA) McKeon
(CA) Miller
(CA) Royce
(CO) Coffman
(CO) Lamborn
(FL) Adams
(FL) Miller
(FL) Nugent
(FL) Posey
(FL) Ross
(FL) Stearns
(FL) West
(GA) Broun
(GA) Gingrey
(GA) Graves
(GA) Kingston
(GA) Westmoreland
(GA) Woodall
(IL) Manzullo
(IN) Burton
(IN) Stutzman
(IA) King
(KY) Davis
(LA) Alexander
(LA) Fleming

(LA) Landry
(LA) Scalise
(MD) Bartlett
(MD) Harris
(MI) Benishek
(MI) Walberg
(MN) Cravaack
(MN) Klein
(MS) Palazzo
(MS) Harper
(MS) Nunnelee
(MO) Akin
(MO) Graves
(NE) Fortenberry
(NC) Foxx
(NC) Jones
(NC) Myrick
(NE) Smith
(NJ) Garrett
(OH) Schmidt
(PA) Barletta
(PA) Fitzpatrick
(SC) Duncan
(SC) Scott
(SC) Wilson
(TN) Duncan
(TN) DesJarlais
(TN) Roe
(TX) Burgess
(TX) Carter
(TX) Conaway
(TX) Culberson
(TX) Gohmert
(TX) Hall
(TX) Hensarling
(TX) Johnson
(TX) Marchant
(TX) Neugebauer
(TX) Poe
(TX) Sessions
(VA) Forbes
(WV) McKinley

Official H.R. 140 cosponsor list

Elected Officials Who...

Sponsored the LEAVE Act (H.R.1196)
Updated Friday, July 8, 2011, 12:20 PM EST - posted on NumbersUSA

Total 8 Sponsors

(AL) Brooks
(CA) Bilbray
(CA) Campbell
(CA) Miller

(CA)Royce
(NC) Myrick
(PA) Platts
(TX) Marchant

Official H.R. 1196 cosponsor list

Elected Officials Who...

Sponsored the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2011 (S.723)
Updated Friday, May 27, 2011, 7:49 AM EST - posted on NumbersUSA

Total 5 Sponsors

(AR) Boozman
(KS) Moran
(KY) Paul

(LA) Vitter
(UT) Lee

Official S. 723 cosponsor list

South Carolina Rep. Henry Brown, Kentucky Rep. Geoff Davis, and Louisiana Rep. Rodney Alexander have cosponsored Rep. Nathan Deal's Birthright Citizenship Act of 2009 (H.R.1868).

The Birthright Citizenship Act of 2009 would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act. Under the bill, a person born in the United States gains citizenship if one of the person's parents is:

a citizen or national of the United States;
an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States whose residence is in the United States; or
an alien performing active service in the armed forces.

Rep. Henry Brown is serving his fifth Congressional term, earning a recent grade of a B+ from NumbersUSA. Rep. Geoff Davis is serving his fourth term in the House and has earned a recent grade of an A. Rep. Rodney Alexander is serving his fourth term in the House and has a recent grade of an A+.

The Birthright Citizenship Act of 2009 is one of five immigration reform bills endorsed by NumbersUSA during the 111th Congress. You can see a full list of the bills and its sponsors on our comparative chart located on the Proposed Bills page.

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Fact Sheet: LEAVE Act of 2011 (H.R.1196)

Fact Sheets - Wednesday, March 23, 2011

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USA Today Birthright Citizenship Editorial (PDF)

Local Power Team - Tuesday, August 31, 2010

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USA Today Birthright Citizenship Editorial

Local Power Team - Tuesday, August 31, 2010

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Jordan Commission -- Executive Summary on Legal Immigration

Congressional Testimony - Friday, September 1, 1995

U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, 1995

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In the News

Births by U.S. visitors: A real issue?

Quoted - Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Rosemary Jenks, director for government relations for NumbersUSA, a Washington, D.C., group that advocates for lower immigration, said birth tourism, though "not overwhelming," leads to more immigration down the road. As U.S. citizens, the children of birth tourists, upon turning 21, can sponsor their parents to come to the U.S., she said.

"The problem is chain migration," she said. "That one person turns into a whole bunch more."

By Daniel González -- Arizona Republic

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/08/17/20110817births-by-us-visitors-smaller-issue.html

Does the Constitution really say that children of illegal immigrants are automatic citizens?

Quoted - Thursday, January 27, 2011

Roy Beck, executive director of the immigration-restriction group NumbersUSA, also stresses the importance of changing birthright citizenship in the effort to halt or slow illegal immigration. “It is an incentive,” he says. “It’s a moderate incentive for people to come here illegally, and it’s a major incentive for illegal aliens not to go home.”

By Katrina Trinko -- National Review

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/257647/new-immigration-debate-katrina-trinko

A method to Lindsey Graham's birthright citizenship madness?

Quoted - Friday, August 27, 2010

The problem with this argument is that Graham's push for 14th Amendment repeal has extremely little credibility -- even among conservative advocates for tighter immigration restrictions. As Dave Weigel reported, some of the biggest anti-immigration groups were dismissive of Graham's gambit, dismissing it as pure posturing, given how utterly difficult it is to amend the constitution. "I don't know anyone who thinks we could try the amendment first and win," Roy Beck, president of restrictionist group NumbersUSA, told Weigel shortly after Graham revived the issue. In other words, even if Graham were to propose birthright citizenship reform as part of a bigger immigration overhaul, few would see it as a legitimate bargaining chip.

By Suzy Khimm -- Washington Post

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/08/a_method_to_lindsey_grahams_bi.html

Birthright and Wrong

Quoted - Wednesday, August 11, 2010

None of this, say conservatives, will actually happen. The will to amend the Constitution is not there. Despite what Graham says, amending the Constitution is not easier than passing legislation and waiting for the Supreme Court to rule on it. "I don't know anyone who thinks we could try the amendment first and win," said Roy Beck, president of the restrictionist group NumbersUSA. Krikorian compared the Graham stratagem to the mostly forgotten aspect of 1996 welfare reform that outlawed benefits for recent legal immigrants. That, he said, was a bone tossed to restrictionists that distracted them from the brief political opening they had to cut down on legal immigration quotas.

BY David Weigel -- SLATE MAGAZINE

http://www.slate.com/id/2263466/

GOP push to revise 14th Amendment not gaining steam

Quoted - Sunday, August 8, 2010

"My organization would say there should be a change on the horizon, but not in the way Lindsey Graham is talking about it," said Rosemary Jenks, director of governmental relations for the nonprofit NumbersUSA, the leading group opposed to birthright citizenship. "I do think it is political. . . . What we need is a serious discussion of the actual issues, not a lot of political ploys. "

By Sandhya Somashekhar -- Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/07/AR2010080702605.html?hpid=topnews

Citizenship From Birth Is Challenged on the Right

Quoted - Friday, August 6, 2010

“If you are an illegal immigrant, we clearly have not given you permission to reside here,” said Rosemary Jenks, director of government relations for NumbersUSA, a group that favors decreased immigration. “You are still subject to the jurisdiction of your own country.”

By Julia Preston -- New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/07/us/politics/07fourteenth.html?ref=immigration-and-emigration

GOP leaders want to close birthright loophole

Quoted - Thursday, August 5, 2010

Rosemary Jenks, director of government relations at Numbers USA, contends, "That is a policy that needs to be changed."

"It's an incorrect interpretation of the 14th Amendment, and it needs to be changed desperately," she reiterates. "The problem is it's not going to happen with the Democrats controlling the House and the Senate, so November 2 is a big, big moment for this country in terms of immigration policy."

By Chad Groening - OneNewsNow

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=1112192

'Anchor Babies' New Center of Immigration Debate

Quoted - Monday, June 14, 2010

Business Week opened the issue up for debate. Roy Beck of NumbersUSA suggested that passage of the bill would stop population overgrowth.

"Each of these babies becomes an anchor who retards deportation of unlawfully present parents – and who eventually will be an anchor for entire families and villages as chain migration leads to the immigration of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins," he wrote.

"Birthright citizenship is an antiquated practice that has been abandoned by nearly all wealthy nations and emerging nations (recently India and Indonesia) and by the majority of poor nations."

KLJB.com

http://www.kljb.com/dpps/news/anchor-babies-new-center-of-immigration-debate-dpgoha-20100614-fc_8089638

Senate candidates urge end to automatic citizenship

Quoted - Friday, May 21, 2010

Supporters of HR 1868 include NumbersUSA, a group founded by Roy Beck to slow the flow of immigrants into the country. Utah's 3rd District Congressman, Jason Chaffetz, also supports the measure.

By Cathy McKitrick -- The Salt Lake Tribune

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_15138588

Ga. congressman wants to end automatic citizenship

Quoted - Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Roy Beck, president of NumbersUSA, a group that favors restricting immigration, said the policy of granting automatic citizenship to people born here is "out of sync with the modern world." He and Deal said that the U.S. is one of the few wealthy industrialized nations that still allows birthright citizenship.

Deal, who has submitted his bill to the House Judiciary Committee, said he's not optimistic about it becoming law this year unless it is tacked onto another bill.

By Kate Brumback -- Associated Press

http://www.macon.com/220/story/726853.html

Illegal immigration: Can states win fight against 'birthright citizenship'?

In the News - Friday, January 7, 2011

Most legal experts agree that the 14th Amendment of the Constitution guarantees citizenship to any person born in the US, regardless of parentage. But these lawmakers seek to follow in the steps of the Arizona immigration law, which ignited a national conversation on illegal immigration even though it could be declared unconstitutional by the courts. Similarly, the lawmakers hope to create a public groundswell against "birthright citizenship," forcing Congress to act.

By Daniel B. Wood -- Christian Science Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2011/0107/Illegal-immigration-Can-states-win-fight-against-birthright-citizenship

L.A. County welfare to children of illegal immigrants grows

In the News - Sunday, September 5, 2010

Welfare payments to children of illegal immigrants in Los Angeles County increased in July to $52 million, prompting renewed calls from one county supervisor to rein in public benefits to such families.

The payments, made to illegal immigrants for their U.S. citizen children, included $30 million in food stamps and $22 million from the CalWorks welfare program, according to county figures released Friday by Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.

By Teresa Watanabe -- Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-illegal-welfare-20100906,0,3446997.story

Birthright of a Nation

In the News - Friday, August 13, 2010

DESPITE persistent calls for comprehensive immigration reform, the hot debate today is about an old issue: birthright citizenship.

The citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment, adopted in 1868, provides that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States...” This language has traditionally been interpreted to give automatic citizenship to anyone born on American soil, even to the children of illegal immigrants.

Congress plans to hold hearings this fall on a constitutional amendment to change that language, something even moderate Republican senators like South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham support. With a new study showing that undocumented mothers account for a disproportionate number of births, even some Democrats might find it hard to stand opposed to altering the citizenship clause.

By Peter H. Schuck -- New York Times Op-ed

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/14/opinion/14schuck.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

An argument to be made about immigrant babies and citizenship

In the News - Monday, April 5, 2010

A simple reform would drain some scalding steam from immigration arguments that may soon again be at a roiling boil. It would bring the interpretation of the 14th Amendment into conformity with what the authors of its text intended, and with common sense, thereby removing an incentive for illegal immigration.

To end the practice of "birthright citizenship," all that is required is to correct the misinterpretation of that amendment's first sentence: "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." From these words has flowed the practice of conferring citizenship on children born here to illegal immigrants.

By George Will -- Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/26/AR2010032603077.html

A birthright the U.S. can't afford

In the News - Monday, July 20, 2009

In his July 15 column "Immigration debacle," Tim Rutten uses Americans' natural reluctance to deport illegal immigrant parents of U.S.-born children as a weapon to attack efforts at immigration enforcement. Nothing new there. In his dissent to the majority ruling in United States vs. Wong Kim Ark -- the 1898 Supreme Court decision affirming that birth in the United States automatically confers citizenship -- Chief Justice Melville Fuller foresaw how this "birthright" would hinder enforcement of immigration law:

"[C]an the persons expelled be subjected to 'cruel and unusual punishments' in the process of expulsion, as would be the case if children born to them in this country were separated from them on their departure, because citizens of the United States?"

By Mitchell Young -- Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-oew-young20-2009jul20,0,6370949.story

Most U.S. Hispanic Kids Have Immigrant Parents

In the News - Friday, May 29, 2009

A majority of Hispanic children are now U.S.-born children of immigrants, primarily Mexicans who came to this country in an immigration wave that began about 1980, according to a report released yesterday.

The analysis of census data by the nonpartisan, Washington-based Pew Hispanic Center charts a substantial demographic shift among the nation's 16 million Hispanic children, who constitute one of the fastest growing child populations in the United States and account for more than one of five U.S. children. As recently as 1980, nearly six of 10 Latino children were in the third generation or higher, meaning that their parents, and often their grandparents and great-grandparents, were native-born U.S. citizens. Only three of 10 were in the second generation -- born in the United States to parents who immigrated.

By N.C. Aizenman -- Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/28/AR2009052801506.html

Congressional Testimony

Jordan Commission -- Executive Summary on Legal Immigration

Congressional Testimony - Friday, September 1, 1995

U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, 1995

Download Publication

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