Memo From Middle America (Formerly Known As Memo From Mexico), By Allan Wall

How Mexican Law Undercuts "Anchor Baby" Interpretation of U.S. 14th Amendment

Under the current catastrophic interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment, an illegal alien woman can cross the border, give birth to a baby five minutes later—and that baby is a natural-born U.S. citizen. That allows hundreds of thousands of "anchor babies" born to illegal alien mothers to be awarded automatic citizenship. It's insane.

The good news: more Americans are becoming educated on this technical issue. According to a Rasmussen Reports telephone poll published last month, 58% (that's a majority) of U.S. voters "say a child born to an illegal immigrant in this country should not automatically become a citizen of the United States…" Only 33% defend the current status quo.

To everyone's amazement, even Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and John Kyl have both recently made noises about closing the loophole.

The birthright citizenship scandal can and should be dealt with at both state and federal levels. Bills to rectify the loophole by statute have been introduced into Congress, and should continue to be submitted. State legislators in several states, including the heroic Russell Pearce of Arizona, are also preparing to tackle this issue. The issue could be voted on in state initiatives and lawsuits could also be brought to bear. And, if there's no other way to rectify it, we should draft a constitutional amendment to eliminate the "Anchor Baby" loophole.

All these reform proposals, even those  that fail, keep the issue on the front burner and educate the public. And that's great.

Automatic birthright citizenship for the infants of illegal aliens is justified by its defenders with the Fourteenth Amendment. Here's how the relevant part reads:

"All 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."

Now if original intent means anything, it means that the 14^th Amendment was definitely not drafted to provide citizenship to the children of illegal aliens.

It was passed in 1868, and its purpose was to guarantee citizenship for recently freed black slaves—not illegal aliens.

(For more information, read our own Howard Sutherland's treatise Weigh Anchor! Enforce the Citizenship Clause which examines the amendment in historical context. Also see Washington Watcher's recent article on the rising controversy Treason Lobby Does Damage Control On Birthright Citizenship.)

The key is in that "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" language.

What we need to prove is that the children of illegal aliens are not completely "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States.

Happily, we can prove that very easily— using Mexican law!

According to the Mexican Constitution, Capitulo II, Articulo 30, the child born to, or begotten by, a Mexican is a Mexican, regardless of where he is born.

Here's the relevant part, in both in both the English translation and the Spanish original:

"The Mexicans by birth shall be…The individuals born abroad from Mexican parents who were born within national territory, from a Mexican father who was born within national territory or from a Mexican mother who was born within national territory…The Individuals born abroad from naturalized Mexican parents, from a naturalized Mexican father or from a naturalized Mexican mother…

[Son mexicanos por nacimiento…los que nazcan en el extranjero, hijos de padres mexicanos nacidos en territorio nacional, de padre mexicano nacido en territorio nacional, o de madre mexicana nacida en territorio nacional;

… los que nazcan en el extranjero, hijos de padres mexicanos por naturalizacion, de padre mexicano por naturalizacion, o de madre mexicana por naturalizacion…]

Thus, any child born to a Mexican parent—either mother or father, regardless of whether that parent is a natural-born Mexican or naturalized Mexican—regardless of where he is born, is considered a Mexican.

And Mexican consulates have the authority to issue documentation to children born to Mexicans outside of Mexico, to confirm it.

Think about what that means. According to Mexican law, every child born in the United States to a Mexican mother or Mexican father is a citizen of Mexico. [VDARE.com note: This would include George P. Bush, son of Jeb Bush and Columba Garnica Gallo.]

That means all these anchor babies born to illegal alien Mexican mothers in our hospitals (often at public expense) are entitled to be Mexican citizens.

It also means that all children born to Mexicans who are legally in this country are also entitled to be Mexican citizens.

So why on earth are we declaring them American citizens? According to Mexican law, they are under the jurisdiction of Mexico.

Thank you Mexico, for making that crystal clear!

And it's not just the Mexican constitution. It's the behavior of the Mexican government in regularly claiming jurisdiction over children of Mexicans born in the United States. Here are some examples:

1.Ernest Zedillo, president of Mexico from 1994-2000, told the audience at a National Council of La Raza convention in Chicago that "you are Mexicans too, you just live in the United States." Zedillo once declared that "we will not tolerate foreign forces dictating laws to Mexicans," even though he was speaking of Mexican immigrants in the United States.

2. On May 16^th, 2002, Mexican President Vicente Fox, in Madrid, Spain, spoke about "large Mexican communities settled in that country [the U.S.], more than 20 million Mexicans…."[Does Dubya Know About Fox's Madrid Speech?, VDARE.com, May 29, 2002]

3. On February 26, 2002, the Mexican consul general of San Jose, California, visited a school in Salinas, California, for an observance of "Mexican Flag Day." The Consul General, Marco Antonio Alcazar, spoke to a group of fifth and sixth-graders, the majority of whom were of Mexican ancestry. Alcazar told the students that "This is exciting because there are many children in this city who were born in the United States, whose parents are Mexicans, and these children have the opportunity now to enjoy two different nationalities and be proudly American and proudly Mexican." Following the speech and flag presentation, Alcazar donated two more Mexican flags and Mexican textbooks to the school. [School marks Mexican Flag Day | Consul general presents pupils with banner By Elia Gonzalez The Californian,February 26, 2002]

4. U.S.-born dual citizen Juan Hernandez (Mexican father, American mother) served as Fox's director of the Presidential Office for Mexicans Abroad. Hernandez declared that

"We have recognized that the Mexican population is 100 million in Mexico and 23 million who live in the United States.... We are a united nation."

And, in an interview on the American news program Nightline, Hernandez stated bluntly that

"We are betting that the Mexican American population in the United States....will think Mexico first."

(Nightline, June 7, 2001)

5. During the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Mexican government began taking

"....a census of persons of Mexican ancestry who belong to the armed forces of the United States and who are stationed in the war zone..."[Piden soldados apoyo a gobierno de Fox, El Universal, March 25, 2003]

Later, Mexican Foreign Secretary Derbez  announced that Mexico was considering direct negotiations with Saddam's regime over U.S. soldier prisoners of war who are dual citizens of the U.S. and Mexico!

6. In 2004, the Mexican Senate and the Mexican and American Solidarity Foundation held a conference in Mexico and the theme was "Los Mexicanos de Aquí y de Allá"- ¿Perspectivas Comunes?" ("The Mexicans Here [in Mexico] and There [in the United States]—Common Perspectives?").

7. In 2007, in a speech in Monterrey, Mexico, Mexican president Felipe Calderon said that

"…. for my government, Mexico does not end at the border. Wherever there is a Mexican there is the fatherland. That's why we are acting firmly and with determination to defend the rights and promote the interests of our fellow Mexicans abroad."

8. In 2008, in Dallas, Texas, Calderon spoke to a meeting of the IME (Institute for Mexicans Abroad) a 125-member Mexican-government sponsored group of Mexican leaders in the United States—many of whom are dual citizens. The Mexican president boasted that 40% of Dallas' population is Mexican.

Calderon also endorsed the general Mexican view that children of Mexicans born in the United States are essentially Mexicans with added U.S. citizenship. Near the end of his speech, he said:

"There are Mexicans who are now Americans because they were born here…."

Notice how the Mexican government knowingly utilizes dual citizenship as a tool to further Mexican interests.

(See my VDARE.COM articles Mexico's Nationality/Citizenship Shell Game and Shouldn't This Dual Citizenship Thing Be Straightened Out Before We Allow Millions More Immigrants? )

9. The aforementioned IME [Instituto de los Mexicanos en el Exterior] is a branch of the SRE (Mexican Foreign Ministry) designed to organize Mexican immigrants in the U.S. and their children and descendents, to keep them loyal to Mexico.

To Mexico, Mexicans who move to the United States will always be Mexicans—even if they become U.S. citizens. Children born to Mexicans in the U.S. are still Mexicans according to the Mexican Constitution. And even their descendents are still considered Mexicans.

So not only is automatic birthright citizenship not authorized by the U.S. 14^th Amendment, but the Mexican constitution shows us that anchor babies are not "under the jurisdiction" of the United States.

By denying these alien-parented babies U.S. citizenship, we are not punishing them.

We are not depriving them of anything.

We are not hurting them.

After all, these babies are already considered citizens of Mexico.

And that's where they ought to be returned, along with their parents.

It's only fair.

Thank you, Mexico, for claiming jurisdiction over all these anchor babies.

Now you can take care of them!

American citizen Allan Wall (email him) recently moved back to the U.S.A. after many years residing in Mexico. In 2005, Allan served a tour of duty in Iraq with the Texas Army National Guard. His VDARE.COM articles are archived here; his Mexidata.info articles are archived here; his News With Views columns are archived here; and his website is here.