Of Amphibians And Anchor Babies……………….

An “Anchor Baby” is defined as a child who is born in the United States to a parent/parents who is/are here illegally…..thereby making that child a “legal citizen” based solely on the geographic location of the birth.

The 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was adopted July 9th, 1868…….Section 1 of that amendment reads as follows:


“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. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”


While many people today have twisted the meaning of this amendment in order to apply it to immigration issues…..nothing could be farther from the truth (well, except that Barack Obama really cares about the people of the United States….but that’s another day’s topic). This amendment was originally adopted as a post-Civil War Reconstruction Amendment. One of the major clauses of this amendment provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled the decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)……which held that blacks could not be citizens of the United States. THAT was the purpose of this amendment…..it was NOT to be used as justification for ILLEGAL immigration. In fact, when this amendment was ratified in 1868……the United States did not limit immigration. With that in mind….how can we paint with such a WIDE brush as to use it today to include people who are here ILLEGALLY? Doesn’t “intent” of a law mean anything today?

On more than one occasion….the SCOTUS has ruled that the geographic location (within the United States) of the birth of a child…….does not determine the child’s citizenship…..rather, that it is the status of the parents, that is crucial in determining the citizenship of the child. The court has stated that in order for a child to qualify for citizenship….the parents must owe “direct and immediate allegiance” to the United States….and be “completely subject” to it’s jurisdiction. (which is kind of hard to do if you broke several laws to get here and THUS….you’re here ILLEGALLY) In other words….for a child to be a citizen…..the parents must be citizens. (See the 1884 “Elk v.Wilkins” case….. the 1889 “Wong Kim Ark” Supreme Court ruling…..and “The Citizens Act of 1924” [codified in 8USCSß1401])

Right about now someone is saying (in a VERY high-pitched and annoying voice)….”Yeah, but you’re not an attorney”……..To which I would say….”Yeah you’re right….I sell used cars…and that puts me several categories above attorneys in the ‘dirt-ball’ rankings”……So let’s set aside all of the legal “mumbo-jumbo” and use common sense……..

In spite of the fact that the 14th amendment was NOT put in place with regard to ILLEGAL immigration OR "Anchor Babies" (or amphibians either, for that matter)......there still are a lot of people who support ILLEGAL immigration and the “Anchor Baby” concept……Of course these are usually the same people who chain themselves to a tree in order to protest a construction project….out of concern that the “16-toed-Argentinian-wartless-tree-frog” might become extinct. They want people to look at them admiringly….sigh….and say….”oh...look at them….they really care about helpless animals and babies….aren’t they great?” Many of them make the argument that the baby ...in this ILLEGAL immigration scenario....cant help what the parent has done….so why should the baby be penalized…..after all….it's just a baby. Of course a LOT of these same people are pro-abortion…..so that kind of destroys the whole “loving the babies” argument. (Maybe they just love ILLEGAL babies) Either way, it’s extremely two-faced (maybe even three-faced) to support people breaking our laws in order to get into the country, make a stand to save amphibians…….and then support the killing of babies through abortion….all because you say abortion is the “mother’s choice”……(and I guess THAT baby deserved to be penalized….right?)

This next paragraph is for anyone who still supports the concept of “Anchor Babies”…….Let me make sure I have the details correct….You are saying that it’s ok for a woman to break the laws of the U.S. by sneaking into the country ILLEGALLY……then once she’s here, all she has to do is plop out a baby…..and THAT in and of itself makes the baby a citizen of the United States….and now she and the baby are entitled to hospital care and a lifetime of welfare and health care at the expense of the taxpayers of the United States…..did I get that right? If you said yes….then consider this…..If that same woman broke into your house….(you know knocked out a window and crawled into your living room)….and had that SAME baby…..would you be ok with personally supporting she and her baby for the next 20 years or so?.....If not…..then my opinion is that you should just shut up….and stop volunteering MY tax dollars to do just that. Then Again….That’s Just Me