States attempt to remedy the “ongoing distortion and twisting” of the 14th amendment.
Lawmakers in at least 14 states are collaborating on proposed legislation to deny U.S. citizenship to children of illegal immigrants, according to lawmakers, including the sponsor of Arizona’s 2010 law targeting illegal immigration.
“We’re taking a leadership role on things that need to be fixed in America. We can’t get Congress to do it,” Republican state Sen. Russell Pearce, of Mesa, said Tuesday. “It’s a national work group so that we have model legislation that we know will be successful, that meets the constitutional criteria.”
The efforts by the state legislators come amid calls to change the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which grants automatic citizenship to U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants. Supporters cite costs to taxpayers for services provided to illegal immigrants and their children.