Ignoring the Constitution Is Easier Than Amending It, Immigration Edition
The New York Times' Marc Lacey reports that a coalition of anti-immigration politicians will be unveiling their plan tomorrow to circumvent the 14th Amendment in an unconstitutional attempt to ban birthright citizenship:
This coalition of lawmakers will unveil its exact plans on Wednesday in Washington, but people involved in drafting the legislation say they have decided against the painstaking process of amending the Constitution and may instead unilaterally restrict the issuing of birth certificates to illegal immigrants' children in their states. They know a flurry of lawsuits will follow and hope that the resulting legal conflict will be resolved in their favor.
"This is not a far-out, extremist position," said John Kavanagh, one of the Arizona legislators who is leading an effort that has been called just that. "Only a handful of countries in the world grant citizenship based on the G.P.S. location of the birth."
"Only a handful of countries." You know, once upon a time conservatives bragged about the U.S. Constitution and its unique place in the world. Now the anti-immigrant right advocates openly violating the 14th Amendment rather than following its text, history, and original meaning. And just like those "living constitutionalists" on the left, they can't even be bothered to amend the Constitution, they just reinterpret it to suit their misguided agenda.