Two senators have rolled out new restrictions that aim to address America’s immigration crisis.
The new proposals from Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia would restrict different aspects of America’s immigration system.
Cotton introduced the Constitutional Citizenship Clarification Act, which would set limits on birthright citizenship and codify a previous ruling from the United States Supreme Court.
Additionally, the bill would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to explicitly state that the children of illegal immigrants whose parents are unlawfully present in America, the children of foreign diplomats residing in the U.S., and the children of parents participating in hostile operations against the country are not eligible for birthright citizenship.
“There is no constitutional right for illegal aliens to cross the border to gain citizenship for their children,” said Cotton in a press release on June 5. “Granting birthright citizenship to illegal aliens has contributed to the highest levels of illegal immigration in history. Fixing this will help reduce the damage from Biden’s catastrophic border crisis.”
Senators Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ted Cruz of Texas, and J.D. Vance of Ohio have signed on as co-sponsors.
Birthright citizenship was established by section 1 of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
“The Supreme Court of the United States has long recognized that, under the principle of allegiance and obedience, the children of foreign diplomats or enemy troops born on United States soil are not entitled to birthright citizenship,” states Cotton’s legislation. “Under that same principle, the children of foreign spies, saboteurs, terrorists, or other hostile actors, as well as the children of illegal aliens, should not be entitled to birthright citizenship.”
Manchin, the Senate’s newest independent, is leading an effort to overturn a Department of Health and Human Services rule that creates the Unaccompanied Children Program. Manchin argues the rule will jeopardize the welfare of unaccompanied minor migrants by decreasing or eliminating required vetting processing for sponsors.
“We have a crisis at our southern border and its human impacts are absolutely devastating,” said Manchin in a June 6 press release. “I have repeatedly called on President Biden to use his executive powers to shut it down and address the cycles of exploitation that illegal immigration empowers. Instead, the Administration is allowing rules like this one to jeopardize the safety of migrant children and trust them in the hands of unvetted sponsors, all while spending billions of taxpayer dollars to enforce the flawed program.”
“I’m proud to lead this bipartisan resolution to overturn the negligent rule and I encourage all of my colleagues to join our effort to protect unaccompanied children and promote critically-needed accountability of government spending,” the senator added.
Manchin’s office has denounced the rule for not requiring sponsors to report their immigration status to law enforcement and for setting “weak” standards for home studies to determine the child’s welfare in the sponsor’s home, per The Hill.
In total, 45 Senate Republicans are co-sponsoring Manchin’s Congressional Review Act.
