Citizenship changes are attempted bigotry

Kansas Secretary of State-elect Kris Kobach is now trying to circumvent the US constitution by eliminating citizenship for some people born in the US. Kobach has shown an obsession for bigotry against Hispanics and illegal immigrants ever sense he was elected this November.

Earlier this year he said he planned to push for voter ID requirements to prevent Illegal aliens from voting in Kansas, even though there is little or no evidence that such a problem really exists.  Now he is part of a coalition of 14 conservative state legislators who plan to preventing children born on U.S. soil to illegal immigrant parents from becoming citizens at birth.

According to ABC News;

“But instead of proposing a change to the Constitution, which has established birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment, the lawmakers advocated that states pass individual laws limiting citizenship to children who have at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen.”

More than likely this is unconstitutional. But conservative anti-Hispanic groups seem intent on trying it anyway. According to Hispanically Speaking News, Kobach has been working on two measures to deal with what they call “the problem” of birthright citizenship. The first defines a “citizen of the state” as a person who has at least one parent who is legally living in the country, and the second measure is really just an urging for Congress to redefine American citizenship using the same requisite.

According to Wikipedia;

 “The Fourteenth Amendment (Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868 as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.

Its Citizenship Clause 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.

Its Due Process Clause prohibits state and local governments from depriving persons of life, liberty, or property without certain steps being taken. This clause has been used to make most of the Bill of Rights applicable to the states, as well as to recognize substantive rights and procedural rights.”

In the past this country has tried to exclude, not only Afro-Americans, but also Indians, Chinese and other minorities. It took years for other minorities to overcome bigotry for coming to this country. Now conservatives want to turn back the clock and curtail minority rights. This is pure bigotry and it has to be stopped. -សតិវ អតុ

From the Community Bridge Blog.