Amending the Consitution to Save a Sinking Ship? The Issues Surrounding the Proposed Amendment of the Citizenship Clause and "Anchor Babies

Abstract

On April 23, 2010, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into law the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act, popularly known as SB 1070. The ensuing legal battle that followed, including challenges to the bill's constitutionality levied by the Department of Justice, catapulted this prospective legislation and the issue of undocumented immigration into the public spotlight, gaining national attention and generating heated debates, staunch protests, and impassioned demonstrations across the country. 2 The bill's most controversial proposition would have allowed Arizona law enforcement officers to inquire into any person's immigration status if the officer feels a reasonable suspicion that the person is illegally present in the United States. However, at present SB 1070 remains unenforced as federal judge Susan Bolton issued an injunction preventing Arizona 4 from implementing the bill's most controversial provisions. While Arizona's SB 1070 has been tabled for now, another immigration reform movement is rapidly gaining momentum with amazing speed. This most recent reform may snowball into a much more drastic change in immigration policy, one that will affect not just one state in the Union, but rather all of them. The newest immigration reform movement centers on altering one of the very foundations of this country: Section One, Clause One of the Fourteenth Amendment-the Citizenship Clause. The Citizenship Clause states that, "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."' Per this clause, any child born on United States soil and subject to the country's jurisdiction becomes a United States citizen from the moment he or she is born. This method of bestowing citizenship is called