Walker (and others) join Trump, calling for ending birthright citizenship

[Fuzzy Bear]

This issue of citizenship is primarily an issue of citizenship of immigrants from Mexico and Latin America, because it is these immigrants who are most likely to have children born in America to folks who are not legally allowed to be in America.  This issue has arose because of a large number of poor folks crossing our borders illegally for the purpose of having their child born in the United States, so that child can enjoy the benefits of the safety net American meant for its citizens, and not those illegally here. 

The practice of illegal immigrants DELIBERATELY having children while in the US is, in fact, the emotional blackmailing of decent Americans.  It forces folks to choose between sanctioning social welfare services for the blameless child (who is now an American citizen) while rewarding a parent who DELIBERATELY chose to exploit both America's laws and America's generosity, versus taking the hard line of revoking birthright citizenship, and the unpredictable consequences of that act.  Our goodness is being manipulated, because once a child is an American citizen, it makes it hard to deport the parents.  It is a system that rewards illegal immigration of those illegal immigrants who are fortunate enough to be able to have their child born in the United States.

This issue is just another way of how the goodness of America is exploited by folks who don't give a crap about America beyond what they think they can get out of her.  It's like the Chinese, Russians, Iranians, and others gaining access to so much of the workings of our government through the Freedom of Information Act.  It's the same as the demands that we rebuild nations that we invaded and liberated from evil dictators, who looted their national treasuries.  It happens all the time.  What can be done in this case.

One thing we CAN do is state, unequivocally, that those folks who sneak into our country and then have children in America are NOT the noble, heroic parents they are portrayed to be.  They are manipulative emotional blackmailers seeking social welfare benefits meant for American citizens, and they know this, and they don't care.  And we ought to punish, with our votes, politicians who won't be honest about this.  These illegal aliens aren't noble folks; they're folks who seek to take advantage of our system, as opposed to attempting to emigrate legally.

I don't know if Trump's plan for immigration is a good one.  I'm skeptical of tinkering with the Constitution, and this would require tinkering.  But it's not too much to ask our politicians to unequivocally state that illegal immigration, particularly when it involves the illegal entry for the sole purpose of having an American-born child, is wrong, selfish, and manipulative.  There's nothing noble about it.  And it's not too much to expect our politicians to enforce our immigration laws to the point of indicting public officials who deliberately refuse to enforce the laws our Congress has made, and setting up "Sanctuary Cities".  These are modest proposals to at least enable folks to regain a "rule of Law" perspective on this issue.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Frankly, at this point the preponderance of evidence seems to be that Trump's objective here is screwing the GOP and helping Hillary.

A hard line against illegal immigration is what Republican Primary voters want.

IF the GOP had pushed construction of the Border Fence, IF the GOP had pressured the Justice Department to prosecute Mayors who ignore Federal Law and set up "Sanctuary Cities", and IF folks with children born here in the US were deported after giving birth, with the mother choosing between giving the child up for adoption or the child returning home to the country the mother came from, most folks would think something was being done.  The disconnect on this issue between talk and action is huge.

I believe that a lot of anger from Hispanics toward the GOP would cease if the GOP would stop doing other things, such as pushing the "English as the official language" nonsense and lamenting constantly how nowadays folks have to "press 1 for English", etc.  That's the part that DOES very much reflect racial/ethnic bigotry and is wrong.  But such a step would need to also be accompanied by immigration practices that encourage the ASSIMILATION of immigrants, as was the case with our Ellis Island immigrants.

[Fuzzy Bear]

You perhaps did not actually read the entire decision, or you would have quoted:

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Illegal aliens are not resident aliens, since they have absolutely no right to residency within the United States, unless you are going to take the extreme interpretation of the 14th Amendment, that once they have a foot in the United States they have a right to establish domicile just like any other person.

They are equivalent to those born on a foreign ship, they may be within the territorial limits of the United States, but they are not domiciled here. An illegal alien has no allegiance to the United States.

I agree that illegal aliens are not resident aliens and have no right to residency. That doesn't change the fact that they do in fact reside in the United States and are thus domicled here. When federal, state, and local laws are applied to illegal immigrants for purposes such as taxation or civil suits, their residence here in the U.S. will be considered their domicile, not their home back in Mexico. The law doesn't pretend that they don't live within the United States. And you're not using the term "allegiance" as it is meant in the context of Common Law relating to citizenship. 

I wonder if we could all agree on the principle, Constitutional or not, that the practice of persons crashing our border illegally for the purpose of giving birth to a child in America in order that their child attain birthright citizenship is simply wrong. 

I don't like being manipulated to serve wrongful ends.  This practice is manipulation of America on a huge scale; there is nothing honest and straightforward about it, and the practice is not in the best interest of America or Americans.  Whether it's good enough for the individual illegal aliens in question or not is beside the point.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Are we all in agreement, though, that this practice is something happening "on a huge scale"? I haven't really seen any evidence that that is true.

The Pew Research Center stated that in 2008, there were 340,000 children born to illegal immigrants in the US.  You tell me if this is a "huge" scale or not.  I suppose "huge" is in the eye of the beholder.