Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) re-introduced the Birthright Citizenship Act, H.R. 140, this week that would end the practice of giving automatic citizenship to children born to two illegal-alien parents on U.S. soil. The bill was introduced with 11 cosponsors.
Rep. King issued the following statement after introducing H.R. 140:
A Century ago, it didn’t matter very much that a simple practice began that has now grown into a massive issue of birthright citizenship or the anchor baby agenda,” said King. “When automatic citizenship started being granted to all babies born in the United States, our lawmakers missed the clause in the 14th Amendment that says, ‘And subject to the jurisdiction thereof.’ So once the practice began, it grew out of proportion and today between 340,000 and 750,000 babies are born in America each year that get automatic citizenship even though both parents are illegal. I know of no other country in the world that does this, and it must end. My Birthright Citizenship Act of 2017 fixes it, clarifies the 14th Amendment and clarifies the Constitutional meaning of the clause, ‘And subject to the jurisdiction thereof.’ President-elect Trump repeatedly called for this bill, and it should be a top priority in Congress.
Under the proposed legislation, automatic citizenship would only be granted to children born in the U.S. who have at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen, a lawful permanent resident or an immigrant performing active service in the armed forces.
The bill is cosponsored by Reps. Brian Babin (R-Texas), Lou Barletta (R-Pa.), Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), Blake Farenthold (R-Texas), Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Walter Jones (R-N.C.), Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), Lamar Smith (R-Texas), and Rob Woodall (R-Ga.).
Also this week, Rep. King reintroduced three other immigration bills: Sarah's Law to increase penalties for repeat border crossers, the New IDEA Act to prohibit employers from deducting wages from their taxes if they hire illegal workers, and the Religious Worker Reciprocity Act to reform visas for foreign religious workers.
The Birthright Citizenship Act is one of NumbersUSA's 5 Great Immigration Reduction Bills.
