The Chosun Ilbo is warning pregnant Korean women that US citizenship for their unborn children may no longer be just a plane ride away:
For years, many expecting Korean mothers have flown over to the U.S. so their children can have American citizenship, but that airplane ticket may be of no use in the future.
. . .
But a Republican congressman, Elton Gallegly, has introduced a bill that would make it more difficult to obtain citizenship merely by being born on American soil.
There have been many attempts to abolish the principle but none have succeeded.
And neither did this one. H.R. 1940 died at the end of the 110th Congress after languishing in Committee for almost two years. The bill did manage to attract 104 co-sponsors.
The original source of this breaking story was Arirang News.
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Why? Because the babies might be terrorists?
Frankly, I am surprised the bill failed at this time. As a non-American, I thoroughly expect this “jus soli” (right of the soil) to eventually be scrapped. Probably because of large waves of flying pregnant women. “You’re spoiling it all for the rest of us” is not a concept I have found to resonate well here.
See here:
http://www.kuam.com/bm/news/sites-lure-koreans-to-deliver-babies-on-guam-for-c.shtml “Sites lure Koreans to deliver babies on Guam for citizenship”
Since I couldn’t find a confirming story or press release, this looks to be very old news.
Birthright citizenship legislation has no chance in a democratic controlled Congress. There is also the 110- year-old Supreme Court precedent to be overcome. Korean mothers who want to have their children in the United States have nothing to fear but Chosun Ilbo caused hysteria.
Grace
Born to parents who immigrated to the United States in 1954
The Chosun Ilbo story was dated January 9, 2009. Perhaps some lazy writer mined it from the Arirang News archives without checking the date.
i found it.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c111:2:./temp/~c111oATVkU::
Sorry. I didn’t know the link was temporary. See below.
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 126
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to limit citizenship at birth, merely by virtue of birth in the United States, to persons with citizen or legal resident mothers.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 6, 2009
Mr. GALLEGLY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
————————————————————————
A BILL
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to limit citizenship at birth, merely by virtue of birth in the United States, to persons with citizen or legal resident mothers.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. LIMITING CITIZENSHIP AT BIRTH, MERELY BY VIRTUE OF BIRTH IN THE UNITED STATES, TO PERSONS WITH LEGAL RESIDENT MOTHERS.
(a) In General- Section 301(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1401(a)) is amended by inserting before the semicolon the following: `, of a mother who is a citizen or legal resident of the United States’.
(b) Effective Date- The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply to persons born after the date of ratification of an article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States that repeals the first sentence of section 1 of the fourteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
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