OK of bill to restrict birthright unlikely

A Republican proposal to change the U.S. Constitution to deny automatic citizenship to immigrant children isn't likely to pass, and at least two of North Carolina's delegates to Congress say that is fine with them.

WEIGH IN on Today's JournalNow Poll Question: Do you support changing the 14th Amendment to deny children of illegal immigrants born in the United States the automatic citizenship the U.S. Constitution now guarantees?

Proponents of the bill say that immigrants are taking advantage of the 14th Amendment, which was meant to guarantee the rights of freed slaves. They paint a picture of pregnant women rushing across the border to give birth.

Under their proposal, if both parents are illegal immigrants, citizenship for their children would not be automatic.

The plan doesn't have broad support, even among fellow Republicans.

"Our first priorities need to be border security and common-sense immigration reform," Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., said in a statement. "I don't believe we need to repeal part of the Constitution in order to address shortcomings in our nation's immigration system."

Aaron Groen, a spokesman for the office of Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-5th, said that Foxx believes that there is a legislative fix to the problem, and cautions against tinkering with the Constitution.

The Rev. Fermin Bocanegra, the pastor of Iglesia Cristiana Wesleyana in Kernersville, said he is aware that some pregnant women cross the U.S. border because they want their children to be born in this country.

"If a mother is looking for a better future with her children, they will do things like that," Bocanegra said. "If we were in their shoes, I wonder if we would do the same thing?"

Still, he said he believes that only a small group is doing that to gain U.S. citizenship.

He does not understand why some people are pushing for a change in the 14th Amendment.

"Other than the fact that it's just pure politics," Bocanegra said. "They want to make a big deal so they can get elected."

Republicans point to a Pew Hispanic Center study showing that 8 percent of the 4.3 million babies born in the United States in 2008 had at least one illegal parent.

A closer examination of the issue shows that the trend is not as dramatic as some immigration opponents have claimed.

Most children of illegal immigrants are born to parents who have made the United States their home for years.

Out of 340,000 babies born to illegal immigrants in the United States in 2008, 85 percent of the parents had been in the country for more than a year, and more than half for at least five years, said Jeffrey Passel, a senior demographer for Pew.

And immigration experts say that it's extraordinarily rare for immigrants to come to the U.S. just so their children can get citizenship. In most cases, they come to the U.S. for economic reasons and better hospitals, and end up staying and raising families.

When Ruth Garcia's twins are born in two months, they will have all the rights of U.S. citizens. They and their six brothers and sisters will be able to vote, apply for federal student loans, and even run for president.

Garcia is an illegal immigrant living in Texas who crossed into the country about 14 years ago, before her children were born. Her husband has been deported, and she makes a living selling tamales to other immigrants who live in fear of being deported.

"I think that children aren't at fault for having been born here," Garcia said. "My children always have lived here. They've never gone to another country."

Under current immigration law, Garcia and others like her don't get U.S. citizenship even though their children are Americans.

With an estimated 11.1 million illegal immigrants living in the United States, the issue strikes a chord with many voters -- people such as retired Air Force nurse and pediatric nurse- practitioner Susan Struck, 66, of Double Adobe, Ariz.

"People come over ... and they have babies with U.S. birth certificates, then they go back over the border with that Social Security number, with that birth certificate," and have access to public services, she said at a recent event near the border organized by conservative tea-party activists.

Several prominent Republican leaders share Struck's beliefs on the issue. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has been a vocal advocate for changing the Constitution, and he helped the issue gain momentum heading into the midterm elections. "Women have traveled from across the world for the purpose of adding a U.S. passport holder to their family, as far away as China, Turkey and as close as Mexico," said Jon Feere, legal analyst for the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for strict immigration laws.

Still, changing the Constitution is highly unlikely, legal scholars say. Measures have been introduced in each two-year congressional session since 2005, but none has made it out of committee.

Constitutional changes require approval by two-thirds majorities in both chambers of Congress -- an impossibility now because Democrats have the majority in both houses, and most oppose such a measure. Even if Republicans gain power in November and legislation is passed, an amendment would still need to be ratified by three-fourths of the states.

Journal reporter Fran Daniel contributed to this report.