Thursday, July 08, 2010

Immigrant “Anchor Babies” - Opposed in Arizona, But Big Business in NYC?


Paul Williams, PhD

No More Anchor Babies, Say Arizona Residents

Nearly two of three Arizona voters want to deny automatic U.S. citizenship to the babies of illegal immigrants, a survey indicated.

The Rasmussen Reports telephone survey found voters favored a state senator's proposal not to grant instant citizenship to U.S.-born babies by a 64 percent to 26 percent margin. Under current U.S. law, any child born in the United States to an illegal immigrantis automatically a U.S. citizen.

Russell Pearce, a Republican state senator, plans to introduce a bill that would deny birth certificates to children born to illegal immigrants.

“I intend to push for an Arizona bill that would refuse to accept or issue a birth certificate that recognizes citizenship to those born to illegal aliens, unless one parent is a citizen,” Senator Pearce wrote in an e-mail to his constituents.

Republicans and Democrats differed in their views, with 84 percent of Republicans saying the children of illegal immigrants born in the United States should not become citizens and Democratic voters split nearly evenly.

The poll also gauged opinion on Arizona's controversial new immigration law with two-thirds of the respondents in favor of the measure and a scant 24 percent opposed.

The law, which was signed April 23 by Republican Governor Jan Brewer and takes effect July 29, makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally. It stipulates a law enforcement officer making a stop or during detention or arrest can request proof of citizenship if the officer has "reasonable suspicion" a person is in the country illegally.

The Obama administration has filed a lawsuit to block the enactment of the Arizona law, arguing that it will "cause the detention and harassment of authorized visitors, immigrants and citizens who do not have or carry identification documents" while altogether ignoring "humanitarian concerns" and harming diplomatic relations.

The Rasmussen results are based on 500 responses to the June 29 survey, which has a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.

The legal basis for birthright citizenships derives from the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Although the original intent of the 14th Amendment was to give former slaves citizenship after the Civil War including the right to due process, the Amendment has gone on to have far-reaching implications beyond the intent of the writers. The specific part that is being used to justify birthright citizenship comes from Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment which 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.”

The question facing Arizona legislator is whether illegal aliens are “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” Illegal aliens do not have the right to vote in federal elections, do not have to register for the draft, and do not pay taxes, unlike American citizens, because they are foreign nationals living within the borders of the United States.

Supporters of birthright citizenship claim that the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States has no real meaning and is just another way of saying “born in the United States.” For illegal alien supporters, they believe the Fourteenth Amendment requires that any child born on U.S. soil be granted U.S. citizenship.

A Small Price for Citizenship? NYC Hotel Offers “Birth Tourism” Packages

The Marmara Manhattan (pictured), a Turkish-owned luxury hotel on New York’s City Upper East Side, markets birth tourism packages to expectant mothers abroad.

It’s a hellava deal.

For $7,750 plus taxes, the hotel offers expectant mothers - - many from Third World countries - - a one-bedroom suite with airport transfer, a baby cradle, and a gift set for the mother.

In addition, the baby will become an automatic U.S. citizen with all the rights and privileges thereof, including social security, public welfare, the ability to travel freely to and from the United States, easy access to a U.S. education, and the right to vote.

The greatest advantage to the offer comes with the ability of the citizen child to later sponsor the legal immigration of his or her entire family permanently to this country.

Most women stay for two months, Marmara Hotel spokeswoman Alexandra Ballantine said, and they make medical arrangements on their own. “Guests arrange and pay for these by themselves,” she said of hospital costs that can approach $30,000.

“We found a company on the Internet and decided to go to Austin [Texas] for our child’s birth,” Turkish mother Selin Burcuoglu told Istanbul’s Hurriyet Daily News. “I don’t want [my daughter] to deal with visa issues. American citizenship has so many advantages.”

The “birth tourism” industry, which is difficult to track and remains largely anecdotal, has been on the rise for years, according to government and participants reports.

The Marmara Hotel is owned and operated by Kiska Construction and Development. The international firm, which is headquartered in Ankara, Turkey, is led by Oguz Gursel, who has alleged ties to the Gulen movement.

The director of Kiska’s American operations is Erden Arkan, a Turkish national.

FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Paul L. Williams is the author of The Day of Islam: The Annihilation of America and the Western World, The Al Qaeda Connection, and other best-selling books. He is a frequent guest on such national news networks as ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, MSNBC, and NPR. Visit his website at http://thelastcrusade.org.

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