14th Amendment
Cross-post: Republican Bill Seeks to Deprive American-Born of Citizenship
originally posted by Imagine 2050 Editors for IMAGINE 2050 » American Identity [click here]
Feb 20th
Alex DiBranco highlights an ongoing threat, not just to the children of immigrants, but to any American whose ability to prove birthright is compromised.
A proposed bill sponsored by Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA) wants people born in the U.S.A. to no longer receive automatic birthright citizenship.
The 14th Amendment, definitely one of the more awesome amendments in that it determined people born in the U.S. are all citizens, not slaves, states, “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.” Miller wants a federal law that says that “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” bit excludes children born in the U.S. to two undocumented parents.
And what is that jurisdiction bit actually used for? The only babies born in the U.S. who are not automatic citizens are the children of diplomats. Diplomatic immunity means that they are, in fact, not subject to the jurisdiction of U.S. laws, and cannot be prosecuted under our legal system. Undocumented immigrants, however, are in violation of a civil law, and most definitely subject to the jurisdiction of the United States — they can be prosecuted, sentenced, and imprisoned if they commit a crime. The children of undocumented immigrants certainly don’t have immunity from U.S. law either (I assume Miller is not saying that they should?); they are subject to the same laws as every other resident of the United States.
Read the entire article here.
White Nationalist Rhetoric Prevalent in Mainstream Discourse
originally posted by Cloee Cooper for IMAGINE 2050 » Immigration [click here]
Feb 1st
The term “illegal alien” or “illegal immigrant” is not acceptable in mainstream rhetoric. Not from anti-immigrant advocates and especially not from immigrant rights supporters. I sometimes hear conversations that allude to using the term “illegal” to gain support for immigration reform from people in the ‘middle’. While the argument sounds logical, the term “illegal” was inserted into the mainstream by anti-immigrant groups, and every time we use it, beyond criminalizing people, we perpetuate a racist framework.
The term “illegal alien” is fairly new. When the 14th amendment was ratified in the 1800s, the term did not exist. After 1965, when the Immigration and Nationality Act was passed, which redressed previous laws that favored immigrants from Europe, terms like “illegal Immigrant” or “illegal alien” were inserted into mainstream discourse by white nationalists. Those that saw this country as a homeland for white people – not only to be controlled economically and politically by whites, but to look white – were disturbed by the influx of people from the global south after the 1965 Act.
It was intentional on the side of anti-immigrant leaders to label immigrants of color as “alien” and as the “other”. The term “illegal” was part of the effort to repeal anti-discrimination laws passed during the civil rights era, and to enact a set of legislation and enforcement that criminalized and restricted immigrants of color from entering the country. The language created by white nationalists is reflected in so many of the comment sections of blogs and articles on immigration. Just recently, Dream Act students blasted USA Today reporter Emily Bazar when she used the term “illegal student” in an article.
Language constructs reality. So why do I find it disturbing when I hear strategies about gaining support for immigration reform by using the term “illegal”? Not only does it irk me to use the framework and language of white nationalists, but it is a way of consenting to bigotry.
While we must always act strategically and gauge our goals based on the actual political climate, when we take up the language of anti-immigrant white nationalists it is not concession; it is putting our hands up and claiming defeat. This is a time to stick to what we know is right, to use the term “undocumented”, to fight for what is true and real in the face of political games and gains. If we do, we will have laid the foundation for a society that is based on human dignity rather than fear, divisiveness and separation.