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photo: GETTY IMAGES (CHARLES DJOU) |
Leave the 14th Amendment Alone
By REP. CHARLES DJOU
The Citizenship Clause of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment provides that a person born in the U.S. is automatically a citizen, regardless of the race, ethnicity or citizenship status of his parents. Some of my colleagues in Congress would like to change this longstanding rule. This is a bad idea. I am the child of immigrants, a citizen by birth, and at age 39, I proudly placed my hand on the Bible and swore to protect our Constitution as a member of the U.S. Congress. My story is not unique. For more than 200 years, our ancestors abandoned their homes and risked their lives to come here, work hard and provide a better life for their families. The opportunity to do so is part of what makes our country the greatest on Earth. I understand that our immigration system is broken and share Americans’ frustration with our porous borders. But it’s unrealistic to believe we can fix the problem by amending the Constitution. Critics of birthright citizenship cite poll numbers and recent laws passed in Europe limiting citizenship. America is not Europe. Nor should we be. Europe has struggled for centuries with assimilating ethnic groups. By contrast, America’s unique melting pot of cultures and ethnicities has successfully assimilated new groups in far less time. This has made the whole nation stronger. The 14th Amendment is one of the crowning achievements of the Republican Party. It pains me to think that Republicans may start tinkering with this fundamental fabric of our union. The problem of illegal immigration is a difficult one. But the president and both parties in Congress have a responsibility to engage in a good-faith effort to reach a consensus on an approach that enforces the law, expands legal immigration and closes the door on illegal immigration. I have faith that the same political process that created the 14th Amendment can produce sound immigration policy that respects our borders and the people who cross over them. What’s you opinion on the Citizenship Clause? Write to letters.classroom@wsj.com
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