To add a little more, the original author of the clause dealing with BR citizenship explicitly said he didn't intend it to apply to foreigners.

Considering this will just add more wood to the fire, let's just go ahead and say it:
Children of illegal Mexican and Central American Immigrants will be denied birthright citizenship.

Is this a wonderful country or what? As an American born in Puerto Rico where citizenship was imposed, I ask: Does that mean that ours will be revoked as well?

Belmont, Massachusetts, where we suffered Mr. Romney for 4 long years filled with similar self-serving comments.

I'm not sure I like it but he may be right. The children of illegal aliens wasn't clarified until Plyler v. Doe, right? And that was a 5-4 decision.

If the 14th Amendment is altered I guess the right to privacy and Roe vs. Wade go out the door as well. That the idea?

Allowing legal status to children born as a result of illegal actions? Anything resulting from illegal action is by definition “illegal”. Pure and simple. At any rate, deporting parents of “citizens” does not break up a family. The family is split by their choice. The “citizen” child can be left with family or friends or be put up for adoption. If that is not acceptable to the parents, there is no law currently on the books forbidding an American citizen from leaving the country. It is illegal for undocumented aliens to stay in this country. It is not illegal for their children to leave.

I am so glad that birthright citizenship FINALLY is being debated. The 14th amendment does not give a citizenship right to those born here who are not under US jurisdiction. Representative Gingrey, bring the legislation on!!

GREAT IDEA: I am undecided about Romney but he keeps coming up with the ideas and issues which mark a leader...this guy is bright. THE POLICY OF BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP TO ILLEGAL ALIENS SHOULD END. CHILDREN BORN TO FOREIGNERS WHO ARE ON VISAS SHOULD NOT BE AMERICAN CITIZENS. CHILDREN BORN TO LEGAL IMMIGRANTS SHOULD BE AMERICAN CITIZENS. MAKES SENSE TO ME.

This part of the 14th amendment was for children of slaves. It should have never been miss interrupted to include illegal aliens.

Children born here, to illegal immigrants, tourists, etc. should not have legal birthright as citizens. Period.

Gee, his buddy Arnold must be thrilled!

The end of Birthright Citizenship is fine to debate. However it doesn't do anything to change the fact of citizenship for any child born until after the law is passed. The Bill of Rights prohibits Ex Post Facto Laws surely even the most dyed in the wool conservative would balk at over turning part of the Bill of Rights? So we still have to resolve the situation of all the families that are effected. The posting that states that families are not broken up supports the worst type of fallacy. Study after study in and out of the government have shown that aliens do not use greater amounts of services nor do they commit crimes at a higher rate than the native population. Why do we not want these poeple to have a path to citizenship? Is it only because they are illegal? Or is it that they have different languages, cultures and skin colors? Most of the dialogue that I hear coning from the anti-immigration camp is based upon fear. The conservative side of the asile needs to ask itself " What are we afraid of and why"?

I think we need to look at how the U.S. handled birthright citizenship before, and soon after the 14th amendment. We will find the answer there.

How do you end something that, in reality dosen't occur. No one is granted Birthright Citizenship under The U.S. Constitution.

A birth certificate, contrary to most peoples belief, does not necessarily make you a citizen. The privilege of citizenship is required to be natural and lawful and not be acquired by virtue of chance or circumstance.

Article 1 section 8 of the U.S. Constitution states: "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

"To establish a uniform rule of naturalization"

The tenth Amendment states: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people. "

Article 1 section 8 delegates the power of citizenship or naturalization to the U.S. Government and not to the states.

The fourteenth amendment addresses birthright citizenship along with various other civil rights: "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."

In the fourteenth amendment you will clearly notice a theme. It speaks to, or addresses the person. The phrase "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof," taken in context means A "person" or entity ruled over by another, especially a monarch or state authority: (i.e. a British "subject", a term concerning British nationality; )

Many have interpreted this to mean something else. A birth certificate is merely a affidavit stating you were born. it does not grant citizenship. To qualify as a citizen you have to look to United States Code TITLE 8, CHAPTER 12, SUBCHAPTER III, Part I 1401 and various immigration and naturalization laws.

The Fourteenth Amendments citizenship clause is not a de-facto right for aliens to obtain citizenship; on the contrary, it implies subject to the jurisdiction thereof

The United States has always, as a matter of law, considered new arrivals "subjects" of the country from which they owed their allegiance. As a matter of law, new arrivals are recognized as bearing the allegiance of the country of their origin. No more is this evident then with the recording of the certificate of intent to become a citizen of the United States:

Physical presence on U.S. soil subjects the person to laws of behavior enacted by society, it does not address international or U.S. jurisdiction or allegiance nor does it give the state the right to grant a citizenship or a de-facto citizenship with out permission of the United State Government whos jurisdiction over citizenship and naturalization is supreme.

No more can a foreigner become a citizen of their own will by renunciation without consent of the United States, their children born on United States soil can not renounce their citizenship without the same consent

Further, if a birth certificate granted citizenship the states would be violating federal law and international law. A birth certificate can not create a de-facto citizenship or a expatriation of a foreign nationals citizenship. Think of it as a woman that needed to travel abroad for some business. She is a citizens of the U.S. She is pregnant and about to give birth. She gives birth in the United Kingdom. Is the child British? Of coarse not. The child is not a British subject however, the British Government issued a British Birth Certificate. Does this expatriate the child from being a U.S. citizen? Again, the answer is no. This British birth certificates attest to the fact the woman bearing this child is the legal parent.

You are not a citizen of the U.S. because you hold a birth certificate from a state or several states although people are lead to believe this. States can not grant citizenship without a statute explicitly granting such privileges to be extended to the State from the Federal Government. You can not expatriate a foreign nationals citizenship at birth unless you have permission from the Federal Government, a United States treaty, or by a United States Court of Law.

Again, the privilege of citizenship is required to be natural and lawful and not be acquired by virtue of chance or circumstance. The United States Supreme Court has never ruled on State issued Birth certificates granting citizenship but if it ever does, it will confirm that granting citizenship, by birth or otherwise, is a function exclusive to the Federal Government. and United States statute. Article 1 section 8, the tenth and fourteenth amendment still apply and are valid