{"id":11467,"date":"2015-08-24T12:02:31","date_gmt":"2015-08-24T16:02:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=11467"},"modified":"2015-08-24T12:03:26","modified_gmt":"2015-08-24T16:03:26","slug":"birthright-citizen-challenge-is-a-slippery-slope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=11467","title":{"rendered":"Birthright citizen challenge is a slippery slope"},"content":{"rendered":"

Can citizenship be taken away by a whim?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By Mike McGann<\/strong><\/span>, Editor, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"TimesPoliticsUnusual\"<\/a>Much in line with the old Chinese curse, we live in interesting times.<\/span><\/p>\n

Arguably, though, with more than one Republican presidential candidate arguing for repeal (or downright ignoring of) the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, suggesting that the children of illegal immigrants to the United States should be denied citizenship even if they are born here, we\u2019re wandering beyond interesting into downright scary.<\/span><\/p>\n

To recap what the 14th Amendment says, here\u2019s Section 1:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAll 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.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s not a lot of ambiguity here. Denying the citizenship of those born in the United States violates the 14th Amendment. Of course, some are arguing it is time to repeal the amendment, which is a dicey proposition at best; while others dubiously claim it would not hold up to a legal challenge.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, for the sake of argument, let\u2019s set aside the legal arguments (in a world where corporations have more rights than average citizens, and unlimited, anonymous bribes for elected officials are now the law of the land, thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court, it would only sadden me, but not shock me for the court to arbitrarily set aside the 14th Amendment) and discuss the pandora\u2019s box that would be opened were such a thing to happen.<\/span><\/p>\n

Assume in the opening weeks of the Trump Administration (yes, I too, just threw up a bit in my mouth at the thought), The Donald deports all the estimated 11 million illegal aliens, along with millions more of their U.S. born children.<\/span><\/p>\n

And sure, it will be a big, ugly, country rending mess. <\/span><\/p>\n

Assume that that here in Chester County, Republicans will find themselves becoming the minority party in the county for the first time since the U.S. Civil War, after they are abandoned by much of the business community, moderates and those furious at such casual trashing of the legacy of the Republican Party (which pushed through the 14th Amendment in order to grant citizens\u2019 rights to newly-freed slaves after the war). This could directly impact many, many people in our county.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, the thing that no one seems to talking or thinking about that this would allow other groups of residents to suddenly be denied their citizenship rights. Take, for example, African-Americans.<\/span><\/p>\n

For those with direct lineage from slaves, it could be argued that if those original slaves weren\u2019t citizens, then neither were their children. Or their children and so on. Any number of other immigrants \u2014 likely some in my family \u2014 had shaky or questionable residency status here in the U.S., too. <\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe someone who doesn\u2019t like this column will decide I shouldn\u2019t be a citizen, either, and the same arguments could be used to try to deport me.<\/span><\/p>\n

In short, instead of guaranteeing citizenship as a right to those born here, it could be taken away on a whim. History \u2014 even fairly recent history \u2014 has shown such things to be possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

The big difference here is in the United States, people will fight back. First with words, and then more, if needed.<\/span><\/p>\n

If citizenship rights were to become something that could be taken away on a whim, it would make the rioting seen in cities such as Baltimore and St. Louis seem like nothing. And with good reason. Such a thing could literally launch a second Civil War.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those Republicans who are pandering in this race to the bottom need to stop \u2014 or better yet, be punished by the electorate with no support. Immigration is a legitimate issue and a complicated one with no easy answers. A thoughtful, intelligent debate on the matter with a focus on real solutions would be welcome.<\/span><\/p>\n

But now we\u2019ve gone past legitimate policy debate into dangerous, dangerous territory for the future of our country.<\/span><\/p>\n

If not, we will not recognize the United States in a few short years. And I don\u2019t think we\u2019ll be proud of what we see.<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

Every time I think the Kathleen Kane saga can\u2019t get any more ridiculous, it does.<\/span><\/p>\n

After a surreal press conference in which the beleaguered Attorney General\u00a0claimed a vast cabal against her, seeking to prevent the release of pornographic and offensive emails by members of the then-Tom Corbett led Attorney Generals\u2019 Office \u2014 claiming a judge had barred the release of the emails \u2014 it turns out that there was no order barring the release. Furthermore, multiple media outlets have attempted to get the emails from the Attorney General’s office with Right to Know requests, only to have them denied.<\/span><\/p>\n

This whole thing has gone past an embarrassment to a straight out farce. Again, we call for Kane\u2019s resignation. Failing that, we call on the legislature to impeach her and seek whether she should be removed from office.<\/span><\/p>\n

She\u2019s already ensured no Democrat will win her office again for a generation \u2014 she\u2019s embarrassed herself and the commonwealth. What\u2019s next?<\/span><\/p>\n

Kane\u2019s ability to do her job has been compromised, putting public safety at risk. She must go.<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s becoming more likely that Vice President Joe Biden, once jokingly hailed as Pennsylvania\u2019s third U.S. Senator while serving from Delaware \u2014 and a familiar face here in Chester County, especially in and around Unionville \u2014 is going to run for president.<\/span><\/p>\n

As much as we\u2019d love to see Biden run, if only because he is a pretty genuine guy, the timing seems worrisome. I wonder whether he can put together a workable organization at this late date. Furthermore, I wonder whether this could split what is a largely united Democratic Party.<\/span><\/p>\n

If something roils the Democrats and prevents what now appears to be a unified campaign, it could have a big impact on down-ballot races dependent on turnout in 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s something to watch.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Can citizenship be taken away by a whim? By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times Much in line with the old Chinese curse, we live in interesting times. Arguably, though, with more than one Republican presidential candidate arguing for repeal (or downright ignoring of) the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, suggesting that the children of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,7],"tags":[6281,5625,5050,1862],"class_list":["post-11467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","category-featured","tag-14th-amendment","tag-election-2016","tag-immigration","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11467"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11467\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11468,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11467\/revisions\/11468"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}