60,000 Non-Citizen Births in Texas Each Year
With the battle over birthright citizenship for the children of illegal aliens heating up, Texas' Health and Human Services Commission has just released some startling data: between 60,000 and 65,000 births each year in Texas are to non-citizen mothers, most of who are in the United States illegally. All told, from 2001 to 2009, there were 542,152 births to illegal alien women in Texas alone.
Several Members of Congress have commented in recent days on the need to revisit and reinterpret (but not repeal) the 14th Amendment which currently grants automatic citizenship upon birth to every child born in the United States (except the children of accredited diplomats) -- even if the child's parents are in the United States illegally.
The United States is the only developed nation in the world to have codified the notion of jus soli (law of ground). In recent years, developed nations such as Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and France have abanonded unfettered birthright citizenship in favor of laws that require parents to be at least legal immigrants in order for their children to receive birthright citizenship. For the United States to do the same, many believe a revision to the Constitution to be unnecessary; a piece of legislation would suffice.
Rep. Leo Berman, a Texas legislator, introduced legislation to challenge the birthright of illegal alien children. In the wake of this new data, Rep Berman said: "They're violating our law, and we're giving their children the benefit of U.S. citizenship.... I've checked the Congressional Record for when the 14th Amendment was written, and the author was quoted as saying that it did not apply to foreigners."
Click here to read more about Texas' surfeit of anchor babies.