CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2007–2008 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Joint Resolution
No. 44
Introduced by
Assembly Member
Huff
|
January 23, 2008 |
Relative to illegal immigration.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AJR 44, as introduced, Huff.
Illegal immigration.
This measure would urge passage of a federal resolution proposing an amendment to the United States Constitution to deny United States citizenship to individuals born in the United States to parents who are neither United States citizens nor persons who own permanent allegiance to the United States.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee:
NO WHEREAS, There are an estimated 12 million illegal aliens living inside the United States today; and
WHEREAS, The Urban Institute estimates that the cost of educating illegal alien children in the nation’s seven states with the highest concentration of illegal aliens was $3.1 billion in 1993, which, with the growth of their population to 1.3 million, would be approximately $5 billion in 2000; and
WHEREAS, This estimate does not take into account the additional costs of bilingual education or other special educational needs; and
WHEREAS, The children of illegal immigrants are entitled to free K-12 education, which is subsidized by taxpayers; and
WHEREAS, The children of illegal immigrants are guaranteed citizenship by virtue of being born on U.S. soil, providing an incentive for continual illegal immigration; and
WHEREAS, The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which 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,” was originally intended to grant citizenship status to ex-slaves following the Civil War, but has been broadly interpreted through legal precedent to allow children of noncitizens to be granted automatic citizenship status; and
WHEREAS, Taxpayers finance generous benefits in the form of providing social services to illegal immigrants through their children’s eligibility; and
WHEREAS, Many nations, including France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom, do not guarantee automatic birthright citizenship to individuals regardless of their parents’ citizenship or immigration status; and
WHEREAS, According to estimates by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), there are approximately one million U.S. born children whose parents are illegal immigrants living in California; and
WHEREAS, There is no reliable way of knowing the total costs the children of illegal immigrants cost our state in health care and education services; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the Congress and the President are urged to pass federal House Joint Resolution 46, introduced by Congressman Ron Paul, which would amend the United States Constitution to deny U.S. citizenship to individuals born in the United States to parents who are neither U.S. citizens nor persons who owe permanent allegiance to the United States; and
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States.