Rep. Steve King (R-IA) proposes ban on birthright citizenship for illegal aliens

[kudzu]

He bases his interpretation of the 14th to the "under the jurisdiction thereof" clause. However, if this is true, does it mean that illegals cannot be prosecuted for crimes they commit if they are not under the jurisdiction of the United States?

No. Merely that they are not citizens and aren't entitled to protections under the Constitution.

Someone please (attempt to) explain to me exactly how this is a bad idea.

[johnpolitics]

Need to amend the 14th amendment to fix this.

[Baltimatt]

kudzu--

Constitutional protections can apply to non-citizens. Answers are not always clean-cut and have changed over time.

Nonetheless, the Equal Protection Clause (as well as the Due Process Clause) makes no distinction in its text between the protections it affords citizens and non-citizens. "No State shall deny to any PERSON...the equal protection of the laws." Government does, of course, sometimes draw distinctions between citizens and non-citizens, thus raising the issue of what sort of judicial scrutiny should be applied to these classifications. The answer the Supreme Court has given has changed over the years and has become complicated--more complicated than many commentators feel is desirable. (Commentators have suggested that consistent application of middle-tier scrutiny (that is, insistence that the government show that its classification substantially furthers an important interest) would explain virtually all case outcomes, but the test that the Court has said it is employing has varied.)

The Fourteenth Amendment says "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. " This has meant that everyone born in the United States is a citizen, with the "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" meant to exclude foreigners in diplomatic service.

[kudzu]

kudzu--

Constitutional protections can apply to non-citizens. Answers are not always clean-cut and have changed over time.

Perhaps you ought to read up on foriegn combatants.

Anyone who comes to this country illegally is suspect.

[BlandFood]

The brother that has Sister on his side.

Bobo married his half sister?

[BlandFood]

The Tea Party certainly doesn't consider him half white

Hell, I see him as some sort of mongrel. http://www.best-horror-movies.com/im...og-monster.jpg

[BlandFood]

Obama is only a half brother to all of his siblings.

And the only one born an illegitimate bastard at that.

[Baltimatt]

And the only one born an illegitimate bastard at that.

Isn't that redundant? And so what? He had no control over the circumstances of his birth, but he grew up to be POTUS.

(I understand there is some controversy over whether Barack Obama, Sr., had divorced a wife before he married Ann Dunham.)

[BlandFood]

Isn't that redundant? And so what? He had no control over the circumstances of his birth, but he grew up to be POTUS.

But it's also factual, his parents weren't actually married, he got dumped by both, do we really want someone with deep rooted psychological problems trying to sabotage the economy of the US?