FW: [NAIR_CC:4795] Fwd: What's cooking? IMMIGRATION: Initiative targets U.S.born children of illegal immigrants

[Rosendo Delgado]

-----Original Message-----
From: NAI...@googlegroups.com [mailto:NAI...@googlegroups.com]On
Behalf Of dorinda moreno
Sent: Friday, April 17, 2009 3:16 PM
To: Los Angeles; Aztlannet News; Tommie Camarillo; Latinos in Education;
Local/National/Global; Immigrant Solidarity Network; National Alliance
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Subject: [NAIR_CC:4795] Fwd: What's cooking? IMMIGRATION: Initiative
targets U.S.born children of illegal immigrants



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: cuauhtemoc mexica <cuauhtemoc...@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:03:54 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: What's cooking?
To: cuauhtemoc...@yahoo.com


IMMIGRATION: Initiative targets U.S.born children of illegal immigrants

By EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer

http://www.northcountytimes.com/articles/2009/04/15/news/sandiego/z3a7cb4466
b4507ce882575970077d470.txt

A statewide initiative now being circulated would create two kinds of
birth certificates: one for the U.S.-born children of illegal
immigrants and one for everyone else.

The measure also would deny publicly funded health benefits to the
children of illegal immigrants. Opponents say that would be
discriminatory and unconstitutional.

The initiative, drafted by anti-illegal immigration activists, was
endorsed by several former officials, including former state Sen. Bill
Morrow, R-Oceanside, and former U.S. Attorney Peter Nunez.

A spokesman for Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Solana Beach, said the
congressman is supportive of the effort, but has not officially
endorsed the initiative.

By taking aim at the children of illegal immigrants, the initiative
raises the specter of the controversial Proposition 187, a 1994
measure that would have denied a public education to illegal immigrant
children. It was approved by the state's voters, but declared largely
unconstitutional in federal court.

The new initiative takes a slightly different approach by focusing on
children whose parents are undocumented.

Nunez, now a professor at the University of San Diego, said Monday
that the initiative was needed to help deter illegal immigrants from
coming to the U.S. "Anything we can do to make it clear who is here
legally and who is here illegally hopefully will discourage people
from coming," Nunez said.

But those who argue that illegal immigrants should be given a chance
to become legal residents say the initiative would be overly
intrusive.

"I can't think of anything more Orwellian," said Dan Siciliano, a
research fellow with the Immigration Policy Center, an immigration
policy research organization that favors creating paths for illegal
immigrants to become legal residents.

Supporters must collect 433,971 valid signatures from registered
voters by Sept. 8 to put the initiative on the June 2010 ballot,
according to the secretary of state.

If approved by voters, the initiative would require that parents show
proof of legal residency before receiving their child's birth
certificate.

Those who cannot [do] would have to pay an additional $75 fee to the
county registrar, provide employment information, the mother's
fingerprints and three passport-type photos of the mother. The county
registrar would be required to report the information to the
Department of Homeland Security.

Illegal immigrant parents would not receive a standard birth
certificate for their U.S.-born children. They would receive a "Birth
to Foreign Parents document," according to the Taxpayer Revolution
group's Web site, the organization that sponsored the initiative.

Kristina Campbell is a staff attorney with the Mexican American Legal
Defense and Education Fund, a Latino rights group. She said treating
children differently on the basis of their parents' immigration status
is a violation of the equal-protection clause of the U.S.
Constitution. "It's creating different kinds of classes of people,"
Campbell said. "There's not different kind of citizenships in this
country."

It also would deny them other public benefits, such as Cal-Works, the
state's welfare program that assists mostly single mothers with
children. Illegal immigrants are not entitled to welfare, but their
citizen children are.

The initiative would dismantle the program, said Ted Hilton, the
measure's main sponsor. If the program is not scrapped, the initiative
would require that benefits be limited to kids 5 years old and
younger, rather than age 18, the current cap.

"What we have is a program that serves parents who are here in
violation of federal law," Hilton said.

The group has raised and spent about $200,000, largely from small
donations, according to the secretary of state's Web site. Hilton said
the group is relying on a grass-roots effort to collect the signatures
and added that funding will pick up later.

Hilton said the initiative also aims to eliminate "birth tourism." A
2002 Los Angeles Times story described the practice, in which foreign
expectant mothers come to the U.S. on tourist visas to give birth so
their children can become U.S. citizens.

The number of U.S.-born children with illegal immigrant parents grew
to 4 million in 2008 from 2.7 million in 2003, according to the Pew
Hispanic Center, a research organization that focuses on the Latino
population.

Children born in the U.S. are considered citizens under the
Constitution's 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868. However, those who
oppose birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants
say the amendment does not apply.

Section 1 of the amendment, drafted with freed slaves in mind, says:
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to
the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."

Some advocacy groups seeking to crack down on illegal immigration say
the amendment has been misapplied over the years and that it was never
intended to grant citizenship automatically to babies of illegal
immigrants.

While opponents say it would be difficult for the initiative to pass,
Nunez said enough people in the state dislike illegal immigration to
give it a good chance. He pointed to the passage of Prop. 187, which
he said was "more draconian," but nevertheless passed with a nearly 60
percent majority.

Immigrant rights advocates say the initiative is further proof that
the nation needs to overhaul its immigration system by providing a
path for illegal immigrants to become legal residents, creating a
guest worker program and punishing employers who hire undocumented
workers.

Other efforts in recent years to deny certain benefits to illegal
immigrants, such as driver's licenses and lower in-state college
tuition fees, have failed.

Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or
esifu...@nctimes.com.

"Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the
powerless means [you have sided] with the powerful, not to be
neutral." - Paulo Freire






--
Dorinda Moreno
Elders of 4 Colors 4 Directions
Hitec Aztec Collaborations/FM Global
We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For!
<fuerza...@gmail.net>

Honoring Native America & the Legacy of Richard Oakes. Georgetown,
California NATURE FEST & KFOK CONCERT, April 25, 2009. This pivotal
date offers two family-friendly events, and is fast approaching.
Please Save The Date!
Reminders:
*Booth application deadline is Friday, April 3rd. Non-profits free.
$35 for vendors & fee includes 2 tickets to KFOK Spring Concert.
*For KFOK Concert tickets contact Mignon, 530-333-0298, and mention
Richard Oakes & Indians of All Tribes, FM Global shall receive $l for
each ticket sold in our name. A sell-out concert is expected, so
please act now. Only $12.50 in advance or 15.00 at the door. Concert
proceeds to benefit KFOK (Licensed to American River Folk Society, a
501(c) 3, IRS EIN# 68-0422260).
*Consider a donation to help cover travel & lodging, Four Directions
and MexicaAzteca danzantes in helping cover expenses. Make check
payable to Moreno & Associates, 1130 E Clark Ave #150-126, Orcutt, CA
93455.
*Visit our Friends of the Nature Area (FONA) website for more info:
www.georgetownnaturearea.org
*Spread the word by forwarding to others who may be interested and/or
download the new poster from the website and post to your websites and
community bulletin boards.

Thanks for your support!

Gathering "Indians Of All Tribes"
Honoring Native America and the Legacy of Richard Oakes, Mohawk Warrior

Call Out for volunteers for DQU cleanup committee, respond to Anamaria
Argumedo <malinal...@yahoo.com>, or
<Fuerza...@gmail.com>

Look for April 4th date for Maestro from Mexico, c/o Anamaria