Arizona fighting the 14th Amendment

Dick Taffe — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 21:49:13 +0000

On the heels of passing a controversial law involving screening illegal immigrants, the Arizona legislature is considering a bill that would deny citizenship to children of illegal immigrants, despite the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that specifically grants naturalized citizenship to such children. Law Professor Susan Akram, an authority on immigration law, says getting such a law into constitutionally shape would mean having to amend the U.S. Constitution — which requires a two-thirds majority of both houses and approval by three-quarters of the states.

“Although Arizona’s effort to restrict the guarantees or benefits of birthright citizenship is by no means the first effort of its kind — and not likely to be the last — it has a very slim chance of passing constitutional muster.”

Contact Susan Akram, 617-358-3060, smakram@bu.edu

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Arizona fighting the 14th Amendment